Billie Eilish has opened up about living with Tourette Syndrome and the ways she copes with her tics in everyday life.
The 24 year old spoke about the condition during a conversation with Amy Poehler on the May 5 episode of the Good Hang podcast.
Eilish said she’s largely at ease with her Tourette’s, but explained that it can be difficult when people don’t understand what the disorder involves. Tourette Syndrome can include repetitive or unwanted movements and sounds that aren’t easy to control.
For Eilish, those symptoms tend to show up as vocal tics. She noted that, compared with some experiences people associate with Tourette’s, her tics are often smaller sounds that she can sometimes mask, suppress, or blend into other behaviors. She added that certain words can occasionally become tics for her, which means she has to be especially mindful during situations like interviews.
“When I’m in an interview, I’m doing everything in my power to suppress all of my tics, constantly,” she said.
“And as soon as I leave the room, I have to let them all out.”
She also offered her own comparison for what it feels like in the moment.
She went on to describe her tics as ‘intrusive thoughts, but your mouth has to say them out loud.’
One of the things she finds most aggravating, she shared, is the assumption that her tics must be inherently disruptive or a sign something is wrong.
“If I start having a tic attack or whatever, like a lot of tics in a row, … people are like, ‘Are you okay?’ You know, this is very much normal.”
Eilish also addressed the skepticism she sometimes encounters, explaining that some people question her diagnosis because her tics aren’t always visible, or because they don’t match the particular examples the public tends to recognize.
Alongside vocal tics, she said she regularly experiences tics in her knees, elbows, and hands, though she believes many go unnoticed by others.
She said managing the condition often depends on a constant awareness of her body and an effort to hold back anything that might be noticeable.
“I’m doing everything I can to suppress every single tic that’s visible, from the top of my head to about right here,” she said, gesturing to her rib cage.
“And that’s, like, how we as people with Tourette’s pretty much spend our days .”
Eilish added that not everyone with Tourette’s is able to suppress their tics, and that reality is frequently overlooked.
“And some people don’t even have the privilege of getting to suppress them, at all, in any way,” and the fact that many people don’t understand that is “frustrating,” Eilish said.
The challenges she described mirror experiences shared by others with Tourette Syndrome, including filmmaker and activist John Davidson. Davidson, who also lives with the condition, made headlines earlier this year after shouting a racial slur at Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo during an awards presentation at this year’s BAFTA ceremony.
The moment was particularly painful for Davidson, as a film based on his life and Tourette’s, I Swear, later received multiple awards the same night.
It also drew attention to coprolalia, a symptom that can involve involuntary verbal outbursts—sometimes obscene or offensive—that do not reflect a person’s beliefs or intentions.