A woman started screaming at me in the Post Office this afternoon. I explained I had Tourettes but she carried on shouting at me to stop swearing.

I felt upset for a moment before realising there was nothing more I could do and there was no point in worrying about it. I felt my body relax and I ignored her. She continued to complain loudly about me until a member of staff shouted at her to stop.

I felt amazingly calm as I walked back to the lair. I thought about how brilliant it had been over the weekend not to have to think about other people’s reactions to my tics. Being in a place where everyone understood, I’d been able to get on with things and be myself without the need for any explanation or tension. It made me realise that I’m not ‘getting lost under my tics’ as I’ve sometimes feared.