While there may be certain characteristics that can be identified in migraine sufferers, it is more helpful to identify the specific steps they can take to prevent them from getting migraines. Is there a “migraine personality?” These generalities have been very popular over the years. Migraineurs have been characterized as perfectionists, people who are ambitious, rigid, obsessive and achievement-oriented. They are people who experience a lot anxiety and find it difficult express anger and aggression.
Problems
There are two problems with this profile:
- It is not supported by observations of migraine sufferers.
- The profile is not ‘operational’ and does not provide any help for migraine sufferers.
The study and treatment of migraine sufferers can be done from a more useful angle: their response to STRESS. Migraines have been linked to anxiety and personality traits such as nervousness, sensitivity, and proneness for worry. Recent research has focused on migraine sufferers’ responses to stress. This is in contrast to the responses of people who don’t get migraines.
Results
They are also more likely to criticize others and to withdraw from them. These responses tend to prolong stress rather that resolve it. People with migraines tend to react to stress by developing symptoms (headache and all its attendant ills), rather than verbally responding to it. They tend to INTERNALIZE their response, rather than EXTERNALIZE it.
Migraine sufferers are more likely to be unsure of their ability to handle stressful situations. When I first read the studies, I was struck by the question: Which came first, the chicken of the egg? Are migraine sufferers suffering from stress-related headaches more likely to develop them than are those who have suffered from severe headaches that strike at any time? If you are used to constant pain, you might become more closed-minded and inward-focused.
What to do?
There are two main activities that migraine sufferers can do from the studies:
- VERBALIZE, especially when you are feeling stressed — even if it is out loud.
- CONNECT with others. Keep in touch with others, regardless of whether you feel the need.
Benefits: You see that others are also going through stress. You can see the many coping strategies. You discover that someone else has experienced what you are experiencing and found a solution.
