21/05/2026
Very Proud of how far Miss Hannah has come with her journey and what she has achieved 🥰🐴 https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1LwsGAnLbi/?mibextid=wwXIfr
CW: Mental health; su***de
An Aussie teenager has used her journey with Tourette Syndrome to help others, launching a program to help people with mental health conditions and disabilities.
Hannah Tidmarsh was diagnosed with Tourette's at the age of 12, she told Youth Jam's Isaac Mulcrone the diagnosis "devastated" her.
"It just devastated me, as I'm different from everybody. Why the heck have I got this thing now? How am I gonna deal with this? How am I gonna go into public without feeling insecurity because all I do is get looks when I make noises, when I grunt, when I snort, when I do any of my tics," she told Tourette's Talk listeners.
The 17-year-old experienced bullying at school which led to a deterioration in her mental health.
"I didn't feel normal, I felt really insecure, it made me want to go put a kn*fe to my throat. It made me have really bad mental health," she said.
The Queenslander said she "didn't feel normal".
Tidmarsh said when she was 16 she realised being around horses decreased her tics considerably.
"They (horses) understand me and they don't judge me. They do not give me looks. You are who you are. If you do that then you do that. They give that body language towards you. Some days I'd rather horses over people," she said.
Her first horse, named 'Victory is Mine', made her feel so calm.
"Where the heck did my tics go? Why am I so calm" she asked while riding him.
Hannah's journey has inspired her to start Hannah's Equine Assist, which helps people with mental health conditions and disabilities.
"It helps people with anxiety, mental health, confidence and emotional regulation," she said.
Her mantra is if the therapy helps her, then it can assist others too.
"If this helps me through it then I can help other people through it with myself and my horses," she told Mulcrone.
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