Tragic Details About Billie Eilish

May 2024 ยท 2 minute read

In 2018, Billie Eilish took to her Instagram Stories to address a series of "compilations" that fans had made and shared of her tics to confirm her truth: She has "diagnosed Tourette's." As reported by Billboard, Eilish wrote how the neurological disorder results in tics that "are only physical and not super noticeable to others," and that she has particular processes for "suppressing" and helping to "reduce them."

While it's obviously not tragic that the "Everything I Wanted" singer has Tourette's, there's something poignant to the fact that Eilish felt guarded about allowing her tics to be seen publicly. During an appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in 2019, however, she revealed that despite having "lived with [the condition her] whole life," she kept her tics to herself, as she didn't want to be defined by them or known as "the artist with Tourette's."

Instead, her involuntary physical gestures could be timed in such a way to remain hidden. During "pre-taped" interviews, for instance, she explained that "they cut out the questions," giving her an opportunity to "let [her tics] out." A profile with The Guardian further proposed that Eilish's tics are triggered by stress, prompting a physical response wherein "she tics, her head flicking, her eyes pulling wide." The condition is shared by her father who "also has tics," as she explained to the newspaper, before adding that she has Tourette's "more severe than he does." 

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