they are articulating) involuntary responses. The typical clinomorphism of Tourette is both an oversimplification and a conflation of various aspects and conditions pertaining to some persons with Tourette syndrome. Some people with Tourette syndrome do have involuntary offensive speech which is termed coprolalia and is sometimes clinomorphised into the term "compulsive swearing" or "compulsive profanity", terms which have clinomorphic currency outside the use of the term "Tourette's". However, coprolalia is actually a relatively rare symptom of Tourette's. Today, the use of the term Tourette's is deemed incorrect. The correct usage is Tourette syndrome. This may seem like a minor or nitpicky distinction, but as with other disorders (such as Down syndrome), the possessive is discouraged. Autism Autism is clinomorphically seen as a condition where the autistic individual is essentially "mentally retarded" and/or a human calculator at the same time, a cultural perception exemplified by the movie Rain Man. In reality, although as many as 10% of individuals with autism spectrum disorders may display splinter skills such as memorization of trivia, autistic savant prodigies are extraordinarily rare; conversely, though autism is associated with intellectual disability, many individuals with autism spectrum disorders are not intellectually disabled. In fact, most individuals with autism spectrum disorders have an average IQ. OCD Obsessive-compulsive disorder and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder are two distinct psychological disorders, but media portrayals are often very simplistic and do not reflect the difference between the two. Though disorders can manifest themselves in a very wide range of symptoms, portrayals often tend towards caricature, and emphasize only the most stereotypical of symptoms. In addition, the phrase "obsessive-compulsive" is often casually used to describe behavior which may be picky or pedantic, but is not at all close to the diagnostic criteria for obsessive-compulsive behavior. This trivializes the disorder, making OCD seem benign due to the misunderstanding of what the disorder actually entails. Mood swings Often individuals who are "moody" or have mood swings say they are bipolar. Bipolar disorder is an often severe mood disorder characterized by periods of days, weeks, or months of deep depression, alternating with periods of normal mood and/or manic episodes, which are not just periods of "high energy" or "productivity", though these may be a symptom of mania. Mania can also entail changes in thought patterns, psychosis, rapid speech, reduced need for sleep, and recklessness. References Medical terminology