After months of studying patients and consulting with one another, specialists at top pediatric hospitals in America, Canada, Australia, and the UK suspected TikTok — the girls had been watching videos on the social media platform of people suffering from Tourette syndrome.

Recent medical journal articles also say that doctors believe the girls have been watching videos of TikTok influencers who say they have Tourette syndrome, the report adds.

While the cases have not been tracked nationally, pediatric movement-disorder centers across the country are reporting an influx of teenage girls with similar tics.

At Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, for example, neurologist Donald Gilbert — who specializes in pediatric movement disorders and Tourette syndrome — says that since March 2020, he has seen about ten new teens with tics each month.

And the Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center says it has seen 20 patients with these tics just between March and June this year.

Doctors also noted that most of the teenagers experiencing this onset of tics have previously diagnosed anxiety or depression that was likely brought on or worsened by the coronavirus pandemic. Gilbert added that physical symptoms of psychological stress can and do manifest in ways that patients have seen in others.