According to experts at the American Migraine Foundation, there’s a close connection between mental health and migraine. These specialists reveal that people that need migraine help are more likely to experience certain mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression. They also revealed that a person suffering from migraine is five times more likely to develop depression than someone without it.
Furthermore, a recent survey, which was carried out on roughly 6,000 persons, also revealed that people with migraines are more than twice as likely to experience mental illness compared to those without migraines.
Today, it’s very important to understand the likely effects of migraine on mental health and vice versa. This way, you’ll better understand how to manage the illness and prevent further adverse effects. Read on to discover everything you should know about the relationship between mental illness and migraines.
Migraines & Anxiety
In case you don’t know, anxiety disorder is a mental health condition that surfaces when you’re experiencing feelings of fear, uneasiness, and dread. According to recent studies, anxiety is a very common mental illness among people that suffer from migraine.
- For instance, a 2017 study revealed that people looking for migraine help were 25 times more likely to experience daily anxiety or nervousness than people without migraine. It’s pretty simple; the more frequent the migraine attack, the higher the intensity of these symptoms.
- Furthermore, recent research, which was published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, revealed that chronic migraine sufferers are twice more likely to face anxiety and sadness than people with only a few attacks.
That’s not all; a few clinical theories to explain the relationship between migraines and mental health have been put up by scientists. However, the available data aren’t enough yet to conclude whether or not migraines have direct effects on mental health. According to experts, both mental disorders and migraines are frequently bidirectional. As such, it’s still not clear whether these mental illnesses are produced by comparable processes.
Females & migraine medication
Today, one effective way to prevent migraines is by taking antidepressants. These antidepressants could either be selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs).
According to health specialists, oestrogen and a few other female sex hormones have a strong connection with migraines and sadness. Studies even revealed that migraines are reportedly 2 to 3 times more likely to surface in women than in men. However, further studies reveal that two stages, in which women are protected against migraines are during pregnancy and menopause. At these stages, oestrogen is a lot more boosted.
- Women are most likely to experience migraines when they have a decline in their oestrogen concentrations.
- Although the effects of oestrogen on women’s mood are a bit complicated, studies reveal that having low levels of this female hormone can lead to depression.
When migraines surface, their effects can significantly lower the quality of women’s life. To many people, this is the time to spend more days in bed. While this is effective, we’ll recommend that you try other more efficient therapies for migraine relief and migraine treatments.
Wrapping up
Today, studies to understand more symptoms of migraines are still ongoing. Since studies regarding this neurological disease are still ongoing, it’s pretty challenging to understand the exact relationship between migraine and mental disorders.
Below are a few concerns raised by researchers looking for links between migraine and mental health issues:
- Patients looking for migraine help should go for a mental health screening and also receive migraine treatment in the right way.
- For patients with both mental health disorders and migraine issues, migraine treatments that can address both migraines and mental health issues should be considered.
While there’s no clear relationship between migraines and mental health issues, you need to understand that both can affect each other. They can also be treated or prevented with the help of certain therapies. That said, for you to improve your overall health, it’s important that you also run checks for mental health issues, such as depression, as you take Sumatriptan or any effective migraine tablets.
