‘Didn't want people to think I was doing cocaine’: Lewis Capaldi reveals why he made Tourette's diagnosis public
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM: Lewis Capaldi recently revealed that he has Tourette's Syndrome and is learning how to manage ticks and symptoms of seizures. The Scottish musician admitted that he didn't want fans to think that he was taking cocaine so he decided to make his diagnosis public, the Mirror reported
Capaldi, who will release his new single on September 9, 2022, said that he initially worried he had a degenerative disease and was relieved to learn he didn't. He claimed to have the syndrome's symptoms. He also stated that he can see the signs of Tourette's Syndrome when he looked back at old interviews. Muscle-freezing Botox injections have been used to treat the ‘Someone You Loved’ vocalist and reduce the tics linked to his condition. Capaldi said, "I have been diagnosed with Tourette’s. I wanted to speak about it because I didn’t want people to think I was taking cocaine or something. My shoulder twitches when I am excited, happy, nervous or stressed. It is something I am living with." "It isn't as horrible as it seems,” he further added.
READ MORE
Lewis Capaldi and Ed Sheeran lift UK music streaming numbers to more than 110 billion tracks in 2019
Since its release in 2019, Lewis' debut album titled 'Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent' spent 77 weeks in the Top 10, and he was named the Scottish star of the year. His first single ‘Someone You Loved’ was popular worldwide before the album's debut.
Lewis discussed his illness on Instagram Live while watching an interview from 2018. “You know what I'm doing [ticking],” he said while watching the old footage.
The singer said Tourette's Syndrome was a "new thing" for him and described how he's dealing with it in several different ways. “Describe the things you are learning. Always address the circumstance,” Capaldi said.
The singer said that some days as "more painful than others, sometimes it's quite uncomfortable", but the illness "comes and goes" and he can sometimes go on for months without experiencing any symptoms. "I thought I had some horrible degenerative disease so I’ll take Tourette’s," he said.
According to the NHS, Tourette's Syndrome often manifests in childhood, although tics and other symptoms typically get better and may even go away entirely after a few years. Although there is no known therapy for the syndrome, symptoms can be controlled.