'Hidden condition brought on by lockdown made me slap my housemate and burn my friend with a lighter'

Harvey Fletcher had questioned his own character for as long as he could remember.

From intrusive thoughts to worrying urges, the 21-year-old spent his whole life thinking he was just generally a bad person.

But a shock diagnosis in his late teens made all those doubts go away – describing the life-changing revelation as an instant relief.

Harvey was 19 when he discovered he had Tourette’s syndrome. A short while later, he was also diagnosed with ADHD and OCD.

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His tics – involuntary movements and sounds caused by Tourette’s – went unnoticed throughout his younger years.

While he was at sixth form, Harvey’s parents observed he was shuddering as if he were cold but put it down to stress from studying towards his A-level exams.

But everything came to a head in spring 2021. Harvey was sitting at his desk when his head suddenly started flicking to one side – leaving him terrified and confused.

“I was familiar with the reason but for some reason it wasn’t stopping,” he told the Manchester Evening News.

“The next day, I was back at university after lockdown. My arms, legs and head kept twitching and flying around. It was out of control. It was really stressful because I thought, ‘What is going on?’

“Then the vocal tics came quickly and I was swearing a lot. It all just started coming out and my brain was trying to convince me I was faking it.”

Tourette's syndrome is a condition that causes a person to make involuntary sounds and movements called tics. There is currently no cure.

The disorder usually starts during childhood, but the tics and other symptoms can improve after several years and sometimes go away completely.

People with Tourette's