Some disorders are difficult not because they are invisible, but because they are easily misunderstood. I Swear, based on the life of Tourette syndrome advocate John Davidson, brings this gap between symptom and understanding into sharp focus.
The film follows John from adolescence, when his tics become prominent, into adulthood. His involuntary movements and vocalisations are repeatedly mistaken for deliberate acts of defiance, rudeness or misbehaviour. He is bullied, punished and isolated, pushed towards the margins of society.
Watching this, I found myself reflecting on how easily we confuse what a person does with what a person intends.
What the film portrays particularly well is the experience of living in a society that struggles to distinguish choice from involuntary behaviour. A person with Tourette syndrome may spend much of their life explaining something they cannot fully control. The resulting stigma can become almost as disabling as the symptoms themselves.
As a psychiatry resident, I found this especially relevant. We are trained to observe behaviour, identify symptoms and understand their phenomenology. Yet a symptom occupying a few lines in a case history may represent an experience that profoundly shapes someone’s education, relationships, employment, confidence and participation in everyday life.
The film also highlights the importance of acceptance and appropriate support. Understanding does not make symptoms disappear, but it creates space for individuals to function, form relationships and develop identities beyond their disorders.
Ultimately, I Swear moves beyond being a film about Tourette syndrome. It becomes a reflection on stigma, dignity and how we perceive behaviour.
Psychiatry teaches us to look beyond presenting symptoms and understand the person, their environment and their experiences. The film makes this principle tangible, inviting us to consider how much suffering arises not from a disorder itself, but from being misunderstood because of it.
Perhaps the most important lesson is simple: before judging a behaviour, we should ask whether the person chose it.
Sometimes, what looks like rudeness is a symptom. Sometimes, what looks like defiance is a struggle for control. And sometimes, understanding begins simply by knowing the difference.
Dr Muskan Jaiswal
Psychiatry Resident
GMC Bhopal
