antidamage

I carry a knife and I was recently assaulted by a group of people. At one point I was under three of them with them hitting me so I decided it was time to at least get my knife to hand. Since I was being hit in the head I don't remember every single detail but I decided at some point that I wasn't really taking any damage so I got the knife out but kept it folded in my hand just in case. I know how you feel though and if I was in some kind of real danger I'd stab first and answer questions later. I wasn't full of rage or out of control at the time, I was simply trying to manage the situation as best I could (and also fully aware that there were cameras operating in the area). Had things gone differently I would have stabbed someone too and not second-guessed myself later. You have my complete moral support in this situation.

She's probably PMing everybody by now.

I went half my life undiagnosed so I feel your situation. In a way having an actual diagnosis would have been a relief. On the up side, I don't think there's anything you can really do about it beyond being aware of it and making others aware of what's going on. Like it has been said its related strongly to stress so creating an environment that's warm and understanding can really help.

I've met a handful of people over the years who have symptoms of Tourette's but never knew what it was. Sometimes it's just one of those things you discover.

Yeah. They have to be both vocal and physical. I had minor vocal ticks like grunting but they paled in comparison to the others. Nobody notices you grunting when you're uncontrollably mimicking them. I imagine its often the same for others.

When you're NASA and you're pulling highly sensitive data very quickly from all over the world you tend to set up your own routes via backbones you have some authority over, as well as guaranteeing you have a properly good chunk of the backbones you're using. I'd say if they needed to they could opt to max out major trans-ocean cables.