Vocal tics
Vocal tics are sounds which are uttered unintentionally. Tics are usually sudden and repetitive. While tics might appear to be intentional, they are actually not. A person may be able to successfully suppress a tic for a short time, but the tic movement or sound will recur as the urge becomes stronger with passage of time.
Complex vocal tics often involve words, phrases and sentences. Patients with a complex vocal tic usually repeat their own words (palilalia) or words of other people (echolalia), and might involve in use obscene words (coprolalia). These vocal tics can interrupt with the flow of a normal conversation that occurs at the beginning of a sentence, much like a stutter or a stammers. Commonly tics begin in childhood and tend to improve during adulthood. If the tic starts in a person’s teens or early adulthood, it is likely to last lifelong.