Cory Friedman had an uneventful childhood until he was nearly five years old, when a combination of Tourette's Syndrome, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and Anxiety Disorder upended his life for 13 years. Cory's story - written by Hal Friedman (Cory's father) and James Patterson - is told in Cory's voice, with the aim of helping other people in a similar situation.
Cory's troubles began with a shake of his head shortly before his fifth birthday. Feeling tension in his neck while playing a videogame, young Cory jerked his head to the side. Then he did it again - and again - and again. Before long the shaking became uncontrollable.
Young Cory Friedman
Cory Friedman and his father Hal Friedman
The first doctor Cory saw for the head shaking thought he had Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and prescribed Ritalin, which "was like trying to put out a fire by drowning it in gasoline." While on the medication Cory exhibited a range of uncontrollable behaviors such as moving different parts of his face all the time; repeating what people said (echolalia); constantly clearing his throat; repeatedly touching his sister's shoulder; grimacing; blinking; and more. In time Cory was diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome - a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by vocal and motor tics.
Tourette's has no quick fix, and a range of physicians tried different medicines on a trial and error basis. Over the course of his childhood and adolescence, Cory saw dozens of doctors and tried 50 to 60 medicines.....none of which helped for long. Some of Cory's treatment problems was caused by the fact that he had additional pathologies: OCD made Cory repeat the aberrant behaviors even more, and anxiety made him restless and apprehensive, so that - among other things - Cory constantly feared a disaster was about to befall his mother.
Cory's obsessions and tics were not only disturbing, they were dangerous. Shortly before third grade, Cory was riding with his mother when he got the urge to stick his face out the car window and make faces in the side view mirror; open the car door; and touch the steering wheel. All this distracted his mother so much that the car crashed.
Cory's illnesses isolated him, because the shaking and twitching made it impossible for the boy to stay in school for the whole day. Moreover, children were uncomfortable around Cory, and he had almost no friends. The kids Cory did know were acquaintances he met in the school's 'resource room' - a (supposedly) quiet space for special needs kids who required a time out. In reality, the resource room was anything but placid because of the 'out of control' students sent there. Thus Cory's anxiety increased, and his tics went off the charts.
In middle school Cory was able to become a pitcher for the baseball team, which he enjoyed. However, during an important game the players on the opposing team - encouraged by their coach - made fun of Cory's ticcing, which devastated him. (This probably wouldn't happen today, with the crackdown on bullying.)
Cory Friedman growing up
When middle school became overwhelming, Cory was sent to a hospital for people who can't control their body movements. Cory was given the anti-psychotic Risperdal, which exacerbated his head-twisting and foot-tapping. The doctors advised Cory's parents to 'let the medicine start working' and increased his dosage from 1.5 pills, to two, to four, to six.....which would make most people catatonic. The Risperdal made Cory gain weight, and the 5' 7" boy shot up to 230 pounds. In the end Cory had to be taken off Risperdal, which resulted in painful withdrawal symptoms.
Other medications followed, which caused Cory to bounce around his bed at night, and made him feel like another person was taking over his body. Cory's mom gave him Benadryl to induce sleep, but it didn't work. Cory wanted to die - wanted his mother to kill him. The doctors finally agreed that the treatments weren't working, and eased Cory off the medicines.....though different ones were prescribed.
Through all this Cory worried that his problems would break up the family and that his sister Jessie loved him less than she used to. Cory acknowledges that things WERE difficult for his sibling, because he got all the attention and he made it hard for Jessie to have friends and lead a normal life. In part, this may have been related to Cory's loss of control when he got into a rage. Cory would become ultraviolent and irrational, and scream and strike out at the people around him. (Note: Jessie probably loved Cory just fine because she went on to become a special education teacher.🙂)
Though Cory's body betrayed him, he had a superior mind and was able to remember everything his teachers said in class AND learn from homeschooling. Cory also took it upon himself to study internet marketing online.
As Cory advanced to high school, he kept hoping for the next medicine to work, for things to get better as he got older. But it kept not happening. Cory began to hang out with other troubled kids, who'd buy booze and drink in the park. Cory still didn't have friends at school, and his classmates continued to make fun of him. By now Cory was also smoking heavily, and constantly had to sneak out of school to grab a cigarette.
Cory had a series of bad experiences in high school:
He had to leave the football team because he couldn't always make it to practice on time.
He had to use a wheelchair (for a while) because his spasms made him a hazard in the hallways.
He was assigned an aide who got him suspended for smoking. Cory then wrote the aide a threatening email, which was a criminal offense.
During this time, Cory's questionable friends would hang out in his basement where they got drunk; made out; and sometimes got into fights with each other. By his own description, Cory was 'a fat chain-smoker who needed alcohol to get some peace.' (It's hard to believe Cory's parents put up with this, but apparently they didn't know what else to do.) The last straw for Cory's folks occurred during his junior year in high school - when Cory fell asleep on the basement couch with a cigarette in his hand.....and set fire to the sofa.
Cory's family knew they had to stage an intervention, and decided to check Cory into the Dressler Psychiatric Hospital for alcohol abuse. Cory was appalled at being in an 'insane asylum', and was removed 'against medical advice.'
Cory's folks then sent him to Wyoming's Roundtop Wilderness Camp for troubled teens - for a month; followed by the adolescent OCD ward of the Wellington Neurological Center - for six weeks; and then on to the Devereux School in New England - a private therapeutic boarding school with no cars, no alcohol; no cigarettes; and no life (in Cory's eyes). Cory hated Devereux, made a huge fuss, and was eventually allowed to return home and re-enroll in his old high school.
At this point, toward the end of Cory's junior year in high school - when he was clear of medication - he developed 'a sense of well-being', and his tics subsided. Cory's family became convinced that his worst symptoms were caused by the variety of medications that were prescribed in good faith.
In Hal Friedman's epilog to the book, which was published in 2008, he noted that Cory finished high school with good grades and went on to the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University. After graduation Cory worked in internet marketing and became the lead singer in his own New Jersey band. Though Cory still had some physical symptoms, he took very little medication and was doing well.
Hal credits Cory's recovery to his son's irrepressible spirit, his best doctor, and his mother - an "endlessly loving, unselfish human being."
Corey Friedman today
The narrative provides a compelling and instructive glimpse into the life of a person suffering from a combination of psychological disorders. I'd recommend the book to readers interested in the subject - and especially to parents, guardians, teachers, doctors, and others who deal with afflicted children.
Rating: 3.5 stars
Good book. Didn’t realize Tourette’s could be so difficult to treat. Learned a lot from reading. Good luck to Cory and his family.
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