Billie Eilish has spoken candidly about the daily reality of living with Tourette syndrome, describing the grueling effort it takes to manage her tics on camera and the frustration of being misunderstood.
Speaking on Amy Poehler Good shot podcast on May 5, the singer explained that although she has gotten used to her condition, the lack of awareness from others remains difficult.
“When I’m interviewing, I’m constantly doing everything in my power to suppress all my tics,” she said. “And as soon as I leave the room, I have to let them all out.”
Eilish described her experience with Tourette’s disease in a way that captured both its complexity and often invisible nature.
“Intrusive thoughts, but your mouth has to speak them out loud,” she said. Her vocal tics are mostly small sounds that she can keep “fairly quiet”, although certain words can also become tics, requiring her to actively remember them during interviews.
She also addressed one of the most common misconceptions she encounters, the assumption that when she has a tic attack, something is wrong.
“If I start having a tic attack or something, like a lot of tics in a row… people say to me, ‘Are you okay?’ You know, it’s completely normal.”
She also deals with people who completely doubt her diagnosis, because her tics are not always visible or do not fit the stereotypes that most people associate with this illness.
Her tics in her knees, elbows and hands are constant, she says, but they go largely unnoticed.
The energy required to manage one’s condition in public is considerable.
“I do everything I can to remove all visible tics, from the top of my head down to here,” she said, pointing to her ribcage.
“And that’s how we people with Tourette syndrome spend our days.”
She added that not everyone has this option.
“Some people don’t even have the privilege of being able to remove them 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)hits theaters on Friday, May 8.
