ABSTRACT
Psycho-analysis has done very little so far towards investigating that very common neurotic symptom which, following French nomenclature, goes under the general term of tic or tic convulsif. This chapter recalls several severe cases of tic that one usually designates as maladie des tics. As a support of the assumption that tic has something to do with narcissism, the chapter quotes the therapeutic successes attained by a certain method of treating tic. This treatment consists of systematic innervation exercises with enforced quiescence of the twitching part. One may confidently assume that of a series of tics or stereotypies, the secondary if not the chief function is to direct attention and feeling from time to time towards particular parts of the body. The tic malady attacks children as a rule in the sexual latency period, when the tendency for other psycho-motor disturbances (e.g. chorea) also occurs.
