Two cases of compulsive swearing - in sign language

[David Baxter PhD]

Two cases of compulsive swearing - in sign language
by Vaughan, Mind Hacks
December 7, 2008

The medical journal Movement Disorders reported two case studies of people who were deaf from birth and had the tic disorder Tourettes, leading them to compulsively swear in sign language.

Tourettes is often associated with compulsive swearing, although this only happens in a minority of cases. It is more commonly associated with compulsive actions, that can be non-word vocal sounds, or actions that range from eye-blinks to hair-combing like actions.

However, in some people compulsive swearing, known as coprolalia, does appear, and in these two cases studies, it seems this can even be expressed through sign in people who have sign language as their first language.

This is from a 2001 case study:

Here we present a 31-year-old man with prelingual deafness who had motor and vocal tics as well as coprolalia expressed through sign language. He would feel a compulsion to use the sign for ?c***? in contexts (grammatical and social) that were not appropriate. This is essentially the sign for the medical term ?vagina? except that the sign is pushed toward the person at whom it is aimed and accompanied by threatening body language and facial expression. The patient would then feel embarrassed about the compulsion and aim to disguise it as another sign. Commonly, this would be the sign for ?petrol pump?. This can also be used to symbolise a small watering can.​

There's also loads of great guides to sign language on the net, including a guide to swearing and a guide to flirting if ever you find yourself wanting to chat up a hot deaf babe or sexy deaf boy.

• Link to first case study (vaguely via MeFi).
• Link to PubMed entry for same.
• Link to second case study (mentioned above).
• Link to PubMed entry for same.

 

[Retired]

I had not heard of coprolalia being signed before. It shows the interesting complexity of Tourette.

The most common form of coprolalia, internationally seems to be sexually derogatory terms, in whatever language is native to the person afflicted.

Simple Vocal Tics - Throat clearing, yelping and other noises, sniffing and tongue clicking.

Complex Vocal Tics - Uttering ordinary words or phrases out of context, echolalia (repeating a sound, word or phrase just heard) and in rare cases, coprolalia (vocalizing socially unaccceptable words).

Echolalia- Involuntary repetition of words or phrases said by others

Palilalia - Repeatedly saying one's own words or phrases

Coprolalia - Involuntary utterances of obscene or inappropriate statements or words including excessive and uncontrollable use of foul or obscene language, including words related to feces (bowel waste).

Coprolalia is a typical symptom of Tourette syndrome, a condition that has its onset in childhood and is characterized by compulsive arm movements, facial tics, grunting, groaning and shouting.

Aside from coprolalia, there is often echolalia, the involuntary parrot-like repetition (echoing) of a word or sentence just spoken by another person.

Persons with Tourette syndrome do not usually curse out of anger or displeasure but out of uncontrollable compulsion. They cannot help themselves.

Coprolalia can upon occasion also be a symptom of schizophrenia, a severe psychiatric disorder of thought in which the sufferer loses touch with reality, withdraws from social activity and exhibits bizarre behavior. The schizophrenic may curse for no apparent reason.

There is no known relationship between Tourette syndrome and schizophrenia.

Undiagnosed victims of Tourette syndrome or schizophrenia are often subjected to public ridicule from persons within earshot of a coprolalia outburst. Observers believe the outburst is the result of a conscious and voluntary decision to swear. It is not. Medication is available to control the outbursts.

Persons who swear excessively, repeatedly and deliberately -- that is, they swear because they want to --are not technically sufferers of coprolalia, although the media often applies the term loosely to them.

"Coprolalia" is derived from the Greek words "kopros" (dung) and "lalein" (to babble).

 

[Jazzey]

I used to teach students with non-verbal autism. A couple of them also had tourette and had some simple vocal ticks. They also displayed inappropriate sexual ticks, that I think were also related to tourette.

Thank you for the article Dr. Baxter - interesting.