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Migraines and Stress
When it comes to choosing the all-time champion of migraine triggers, it all boils down to two contenders and all
the others are mere pretenders. Much research has been done into the various triggers of migraine and basically the
verdicts have come down squarely into two camps. Many researchers have decided that food and food additives are the
main culprit behind triggering migraines. On the other hand, many researchers are adamant that the primary trigger
for migraines is stress.
The wisdom concerning eliminating the stress in our lives is hardly relegated to migraine relief. Stress seems to
be blamed for just about every ailment experienced in the modern world. The simple, inescapable fact of life is
that stress is now and is probably always going to be a daily part of our lives that can never be eliminated. Even
the mere reduction of stress levels is difficult. The management of all aspects of life from family to career to
raising children to school all offer some kind of stress.
The Most Common Stresses That Trigger Migraines.
Multiple-Role Stress: Females especially must contend with multiple-role stress, the juggling of many
responsibilities such as wife, worker and mother.
Workplace Stress: There is no such thing as a stressless job. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the CEO of a
multinational conglomerate or the checkout person at the supermarket, you will be stressed out by your job.
Financial Stress: Not being able to meet bills, not making as much as you want, not making as much as your
neighbor; these are all stresses connected with finances. The number one cause of divorce is money issues so it
should come as no surprise that worry over finances can trigger migraines.
Caregiver Stress: Women are likely to suffer this stress the most, though more and more men are choosing to
become stay at home dads. There are untold riches in being a parent, but it can also be quite taxing and
stressful.
All of these stressors individually trigger migraines, but most often it’s the combination of all of them working
together that cause that explosion inside your head.
The Impact of Mood on Headaches
Personality: A migraine is a disease, not a psychological disorder, and contrary to popular belief the
majority of headache patients do not suffer any serious psychological problems. Research from hundreds of studies
that have examined the personalities and behaviors of migraine sufferers have delivered no evidence whatever that
concludes there is any particular personality type prone to suffering migraines.
Depression: Depression can reduce the body’s ability to respond effectively to medication. If your migraine
medicine isn’t doing the trick, it may be because you suffer from depression. Women in particular are at risk for
depression, though the effect is the same on both genders. Depression also occurs more often in migraine patients
than in those who don’t suffer migraines. Even mild depression can diminish the efficacy of both medical treatment
and behavioral treatments such as biofeedback and relaxation methods. Because of the possibility that treatment for
migraines could be diminished, therefore, it is highly recommended that you discuss this issue with your doctor who
may be better able to select treatments that can effectively relieve symptoms of both headache and depression.
Anxiety: Anxiety is basically a state of nervousness or tension that occurs without any particular reason.
Much like depression anxiety can work to lower one’s ability to handle stress. Anxiety can also raise the level of
pain or lower your tolerance for pain during a headache, which can seriously impair the effectiveness of any
medication used to treat headache pain. For some sufferers, it is necessary to treat both the anxiety and the
headaches in order to get both under control.
Treatment
If depression or anxiety are present in a patient with migraine, both disorders need to be treated. It is generally
not true that treating the depression will make the headaches go away, or that headache improvement will lead to an
improvement in mood. Specific treatment for both migraine and depression exists and will produce the best
outcome.
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