For years, 38-year-old Christopher May has battled to control the symptoms of the psychological and neurological condition Tourette's syndrome.

He was diagnosed at the age of 19 and went on to become one of the first people in the UK to have brain surgery to try to alleviate the symptoms.

Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome, a hereditary disorder, can have many effects on behaviour, ranging from involuntary swearing to howling, twitching, squealing and other compulsive gestures.

Mr May has suffered a variety of symptoms, including various nervous ticks, involuntary screeching and the uncontrollable urge to poke his finger in his eye.

He says these problems have prevented him from holding down a job and destroyed his marriage.

He said: "All through school I was a disruptive element. I was always talking or making noises. When I was 17 I got a job at the Inland Revenue in Chichester.

"I kept having to make imitating gestures or movements. I started twitching so badly and making noises and funny movements that the chief valuation clerk called my mother and asked if I was sniffing glue. Mum said I was just very nervous. She did not know then because I wasn't diagnosed until two years later."

Some of Mr May's worst symptoms included an urge to lift his eyelid and poke his eye, which eventually damaged his sight, and forcing his finger up his nose despite the bleeding it caused. Once he convulsed and put his left hand through a window, causing disabling nerve damage.

"I have good days and bad days. I screech when stressed, I screech when not stressed. I'm getting sound-proofing put into my flat because it gets really loud but my neighbours understand.

"I booted pride out of the window many years ago. I might screech out just walking down the street.

"The effect it has had on my life is upsetting. Tourette's is like when you leave a house, lock the front door, get down the garden path and think 'Did I lock that?'. You have to check even though you know you locked it. It's like that but a million times worse. It's an overwhelming urge to do things."

Mr May had had two failed marriages and blames Tourette's for the first divorce.

He said: "I would go into the bathroom, close the door and go into the airing cupboard - I'd be in there for four or five hours."

Mr May, who has also been diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder, was having 24-hour care to stop him hurting himself when doctors decided to operate.

On October 14, 1987, a brain operation called a cingulotomy was performed on him at the Atkinson Morely Hospital in Wimbledon, London.

He said: "I was being cared for in London for a year and two months before a brain operation was suggested. I would have let them cut off my head if they had said it would help.

"The effects of the surgery were minimal initially but it did stop the eye poking. However, I have noticed improvements in my condition over the years and tend to find it easier to manage certain compulsive behaviour."

Mr May, who lives on sickness benefit because balancing work with his condition has proved too difficult, said: "Tourette's is a lack of control. If you do not perform this function, there is this anxiety willing you on."

With awareness of the condition increasing and improved treatments, Mr May decided he could help other Tourette's sufferers and applied for a grant to start a support group.

Having secured £1,600 in funding from The Scarman Trust, his group is set to be launched this month.

Praising the support he receives from the Tourette's In Crisis group, which helps raise awareness of the condition, Mr May said: "I have high hopes for this support group, which I hope can help sufferers in any way, big or small."

The support group launch takes place at the Old School House in Ham Road, Shoreham, on November 26 at 3pm. Mr May can contacted by email at christopher.rmay@btopenworld.com or via the Old School House on 01273 465150.