Billie Eilish has spoken candidly about the day-to-day reality of living with Tourette syndrome, describing the grueling effort it takes to manage her tics on camera and the frustration of being misunderstood.
Talking about Amy Poehler’s Good hang podcast on May 5, the singer explained that while she has come to terms with her condition, the lack of awareness from others is still difficult.
“When I’m in an interview, I do everything in my power to suppress all my tics constantly,” she said. “And as soon as I leave the room, I have to let them all out.”
Eilish described her experience of Tourette’s in a way that captures both its complexity and its often invisible nature.
“Urgent thoughts, but your mouth must speak them aloud,” she said. Her vocal tics are mostly small sounds she can keep “pretty quiet”, although certain words can also become tics, requiring her to actively hold them back during interviews.
She also addressed one of the most common misconceptions she encounters, the assumption that when she has a tic attack, there must be something wrong.
“If I start having a tic attack or whatever, like a bunch of tics in a row… people say, ‘Are you okay?’ You know, it’s very normal.”
She also deals with people who completely doubt her diagnosis because her tics aren’t always visible or don’t match the stereotypes most people associate with the condition.
Her tics in her knees, elbows and hands are constant, she said, but they go largely unnoticed.
The energy required to manage her condition while in public is considerable.
“I’m doing everything I can to suppress every tic that’s visible from the top of my head to about right here,” she said, gesturing to her ribcage.
“And that’s kind of how we as people with Tourette’s pretty much spend our days.”
She added that not everyone has that opportunity.
“Some people don’t even have the privilege to oppress them, at all, in any way,” she said, and the fact that many people don’t understand that is, in her words, “frustrating.”
Eilish’s new concert film, Billie Eilish — Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D)opens in theaters on Friday, May 8.
