When an acquaintance of yours is developing a twitch, do you say something?

Absolutely. Under the circumstances you describe, I definitely would. Ask him why he is doing that with his eye all of a sudden. Then talk about the possibility of it being a twitch as a result of the pressure he’s under.

If, in fact, his twitch is a physiological manifestation of stress with him, the physical problem can get worse and/or affect other parts of his body (bowels, heart, etc.) and you don’t want that to happen. HE doesn’t want that to happen.

Mention it. It might be something he is aware of, but ignoring. It might be something he’s already aware of and doing something about. But as long as you mention it as a friend, “Hey, so-and-so, I know we’re not all that close, but I’ve noticed that over the past year or so you’ve developed an eye-twitch. It seems to be getting worse. I just wanted to make sure you know and are taking care of yourself.”

He might tell you off or say it is none of your business, but at least you tried.

Also, it might be something he’s telling himself was always like that. I’ve always had migraines, but the frequency increased horribly my senior year of college. It took a friend of mine pointing that out to make me see the doctor and get my head examined.

I recently had an eye-twitch for a few days due to lack of sleep. It was horrible!

I’m going to play devil’s advocate, and say to just ignore it. That is something you know about, if you have it. And there is nothing worse than having someone point out some “problem” of yours. If someone told me that I had an eye twitch (which happens from time to time), I’d not only be extremely embarrassed, but annoyed.

On Friday a coworker told me to smile. Seriously. She came in my office, I was in a mood, and she told me to smile. It made me want to punch a baby seal. I just think it is a little patronizing to point out someone’s flaws, be it an eye twitch or a frowning face.

As long as this coworker of yours doesn’t appear to be in poor health or otherwise doing poorly, just leave him be.

I’m with Les. If one is twitching, one knows about it. It seems that you are jumping to conclusions, too. Workload is not the only reason for a twitch. If he hasn’t confided in you, take the hint, he doesn’t want to discuss it. If a not-so-close fellow employee offered me unsolicited personal advice, my first reaction would be to tell her politely, MYOB.

Invite him over for a poker night before you break the news to him. Sounds like he’s got a great tell.