Daily Overview: Wednesday, April 12th

I had jaw, and facial tics today. I was in creative spirits and I did some of my best work.

I’ve decided to break my sessions into (3) ten minute games.

I was previously training in the order of 10 minutes (Warm-Up), 15 minutes (Endurance), and 5 minutes (Cool-Down).

I had no true complaints about the way it was structured before and I don’t know if it was substantially detrimental or optimal.

I feel that early on and without hesitation is the time to make this type of adjustment.

I’ll work in a 7-day progress recap. Next post.

Before my session, I completed CBT exercises while my cat stared grumpily at me.

YGTSS SCORE: 23

DAY 7 SCORES:

BEST SCORE:

Today, I achieved 62 seconds of control. This is a new personal milestone.

I feel that both high activity and high resilience in tandem is ideal, bit maybe activity isn’t priority. Activity in the prefrontal cortex can be hard to define due to it’s plasticity. It’s not a homogeneous brain region, but rather, a collection of specific areas with many unique connections to the rest of the brain.

The PFC can change it’s structure and function in response to experience and environmental factors. I can’t truly say whether or not, at this stage, “activity” is necessarily the most critical driver of progress in regards to the desired outcomes of fNIRS Neurofeedback training.

My common sense tells me that all measures of function should generally improve over time. I’ll be very curious about the implications if I begin to decline in activity while steadily increasing resilience.

I’ll brush up and revisit this subject when I have more insight.

Anyway, please read below:

There are select stories I’d like to share during this case study that I feel will be valuable for others with TS to hear, especially if you’re young or recently diagnosed.

Some of these stories include sensitive content that highlight the dangers of not seeking professional help, unchecked impulsivity, the vulnerabilities we share, and lessons to promote self-awareness. The title of today’s entry was designed specifically to ensure you’d read this PSA…

PSA: In the future, if my post is likely to contain graphic content or information that readers may be sensitive to, I will be sure to add a disclaimer in the title, so that you can avoid reading anything that might upset you and you can focus on my training-focused entries.

I mentioned my Tourette syndrome to a friend earlier while were discussing a relevant topic. It was the first time in 5-10 years that I mentioned my condition, and I’ve known him for over 15 years.

He had a lot of questions, to my surprise, and was curious how I was handling my tics these days. He inadvertantly reminded me that my tics used to be pretty terrible, and I think it was good for me to hear that. I have in fact come a long way. He actually had his own minor tics growing up (not tourette syndrome, that I am aware of) but I had totally forgotten this. “1-Way” and I always had the oddest things in common.

If you have at least one good friend, remember that they usually want to support you. Let them in every now and then on the things you normally keep to yourself. For a long time, I spent a lot of energy making sure that everyone knew that “I’m ok” or “doing great”. Even when I wasn’t. I never saw the value in venting to be honest. BUT… there’s how we “see things”, justify things, or explain our behavior, and then there’s reality…

And the reality is, we’re only human. At the end of the day, everyone benefits from support, even if talking about your problems is “not your thing”.

Too much talking for today. Report complete.