Channel 4 (UK) Documentaries

The Town That Caught Tourette's (2012x70)

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In October 2011 in the tiny town of Le Roy, New York, a handful of teenage girls from the same high school suddenly developed symptoms that looked like Tourette's syndrome: facial twitching, violent limb gestures and uncontrollable verbal outbursts. Some doctors believed they were victims of conversion disorder, where real physical symptoms - in this case tics - are triggered not by a physical cause, but by psychological trauma. But within a few months 18 students were sick and the diagnosis became 'mass hysteria'. As a cry for help, the girls went on national TV and their story caused a global media frenzy. This remarkable documentary meets the people at the heart of this outbreak, including the girls who have recovered, as well as those who are still suffering.