What people have to realize is that EVERYONE in the free world has many mental illness ’symptoms’ — in fact a great deal have some low level degree of mental illness.

Think of it as no one is perfect physically… some are more fit than others.. some struggle to do the ‘normal’ physical things .. some might have some lower back pain or shoulder pain, or other pain in the body because of poor posture, weak muscles, and so on.. that needs addressing.

Point is that yes, your observations are most likely ‘Tics’. But so what? Tics , by themselves.. are incredibly common. Most people have a tic or 10 they present daily.. most don’t realize their ‘tics’ or habits.. some have and just don’t care.

We are moving beings,.. as humans.. we don’t just sit catatonic — so if emotion causes us to subconsciously or consciously smooth our hair,.. rub our nose.. tap our fingers.. clear our throats and on and on.. it is natural.

No sense in worrying about something that at 16yrs of age you just ‘realize’. Understand?

If you had a "Tic Disorder" .. ie: Tourettes — you would have long ago realized the disorder and have already sought treatment for it. There is little to treat — but everyone could use some mental health counseling, preventative treatment and so on.

I’m not sure when it will happen, but eventually mental health will be treated like physical — in that routine ‘checkups’ are common, and preventative treatment will be the ‘best treatment’.

Nothing wrong with you,.. at least not any more than the next person. Make sense?

Relax,.. if these actions make you overly self-conscious and this uncomfortable feeling won’t leave.. talk to a therapist about them. You can get rid of Tics.. though we all tend to replace them with something else.

I have a few tics of my own. Most everyone else would call these things ‘nervous or anxious movements or actions’.

Just watch people sometime. You’ll see them scratching, rubbing, stretching, bending, coughing, clearing, blinking, snorting and so on as a ‘habit’ not so much as a one time thing to help the itch, or relax the muscle, or clear the sinus.

If people read the DSM,.. the criteria to diagnose mental illness just about everyone on the planet could and would fall somewhere in some illness as a positive. This criteria is only useful in people whose lives are significantly effected by these things.

Now relax,.. forget about it.. and go on living your teenage years!
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