The essential feature of transient tic disorder is the presence of single or multiple motor tics and/or vocal tics. The tics occur many times a day.

A tic is a sudden, rapid, recurrent, nonrhythmic, stereotyped motor movement or vocalization. The vocal tics include various words or sounds such as clicks, grunts, yelps, barks, sniffs, snorts, and coughs.

Specific Symptoms of Transient Tic Disorder

  • Single or multiple motor and/or vocal tics (i.e., sudden, rapid, recurrent, nonrhythmic, stereotyped motor movements, or vocalizations)
  • The tics occur many times a day, nearly every day for at least 4 weeks, but for no longer than 12 consecutive months.
  • The disturbance causes marked distress or significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.
  • The onset is before age 18 years.
  • The disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., stimulants) or a general medical condition (e.g., Huntington’s disease or postviral encephalitis).
  • Criteria have never been met for Tourette’s disorder or chronic motor or vocal tic disorder.

Note: This disorder has been replaced in the updated 2013 5th Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) and renamed to “provisional tic disorder”. This entry now exists here for historical/informational purposes. See new criteria for provisional tic disorder.