Migralex Blog

Abuse and headaches

Childhood abuse or neglect was reported by 58% of 1,348 headache sufferers according to a study published in the current issue of Headache.  Emotional abuse and neglect was particularly common.  Patients with other chronic pain conditions also have high incidence of emotional, sexual, and physical abuse.  Headache patients who suffered abuse are also more likely to have anxiety and depression. 

We do not know what physiological mechanisms that are triggered by abuse lead to chronic pain.  This and similar studies suggest that greater attention should be directed at the psychological factors that contribute to headaches.  One possible negative outcome of this study is that some physicians, who may already consider headache to be a purely psychological disorder, will be even more inclined to avoid treating headaches as a biological disease.  In practice, it means that these doctors will be even more reluctant to prescribe appropriate acute and preventive medications.  Headache is clearly a biological disorder with documented genetic predisposition and should be treated as such.  At the same time, we know that psychological factors play a major contributing role and should be also addressed when treating headache and pain patients.

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