Can Migraines Cause Depression
Is it true that having migraines increases the risk of depression? I have them and find the headaches pretty depressing, although I feel okay between them. Should I be worried about depression?
Andrew Weil, M.D. |January 10, 2014
Some evidence does suggest that having migraine headaches increases the risk of depression, particularly among women. The latest study on this subject comes from Canada, and found that the prevalence of depression is twice as high among migraine patients as it is among people who dont suffer from these headaches. For men who have migraine the prevalence of depression seen in the study was 8.4 percent, compared to depressed mood in only 3.4 percent of men without the problem. For women, the prevalence was 12.4 percent compared to 5.7 percent in women without the headaches.
The researchers at the University of Toronto also found that women under 30 who had migraine symptoms had six times the odds of developing depression as did migraine patients age 65 and older and that the risk of depression was also higher among unmarried individuals and those who had trouble with daily activities because of the headaches.
This study wasnt the first to link migraine with depression. In 2012 researchers at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston reported that the risk of depression is up to 41 percent higher in women with past or present migraine than it is among women who do not have the condition.
Andrew Weil, M.D.
Secondary Service Connection: Migraines Secondary To Depression
In the instance of migraines and depression, migraines may be claimed as a secondary condition to depression. To be eligible for secondary service connection for migraines, the veteran would need to:
- Already be service-connected for depression
- Provide a diagnosis for the secondary condition and
- Provide medical evidence, or a nexus, showing the relationship between depression and migraines
Veterans who develop migraines as a result of depression should consider this process in order to receive benefits for their migraines. Additionally, research has indicated a relationship between migraines and anxiety disorders, another mental health condition. Veterans may also be entitled to secondary service connection if they developed migraines as a result of an anxiety disorder. Below is information regarding how VA rates mental health disorders, such as depression and anxiety.
Pharmacologic Treatments For Migraine And Depression
Ideally, migraines and depression should be treated simultaneously. It is a mistake to think that migraine should not be addressed until the depressive symptoms have resolved, or vice versa. The 2 conditions can be treated at the same time, Dr Seng emphasized. Patients with these conditions should be receiving aggressive treatments on all fronts to help reduce both migraine and depressive symptomatology.
Choosing migraine-preventive medication in patients with psychiatric comorbidities should be based on a number of factors, including the severity of the psychiatric comorbidity, patients preferences, patients risk for adverse events, and prior treatment history.9
If the psychiatric comorbidity is mild, it may be possible to use monotherapy for migraine prevention as well as the psychiatric condition. However, with severe conditions, or the absence of overlap, separate treatments are needed.9 In addition, using separate treatments for migraine and psychiatric comorbidity rather than monotherapy appears to improve outcomes and minimize side effects.9
Treatment should proceed in a sequential stepwise manner with close monitoring of potential side effects and treatment interactions.9 Some migraine preventives like topiramate can affect mood, while it is possible that -blockers may be associated with depression.9Table 1 lists pharmacotherapies for migraine prevention and psychiatric comorbidities.
Table 1: Pharmacotherapies For Migraine and Psychiatric Comorbidities
You May Like: How Can Someone Overcome Depression
The Connection Between Anxiety & Depression And Migraines
A connection between migraine occurrences and the presence of other mental health disorders like anxiety and depression has been established in several studies. Studies have shown that depression impacts as many as 80% of people suffering from migraines while other studies indicate that migraine symptoms were reported in roughly 67% of people who experienced anxiety disorders. It is uncertain if migraines are the cause of the mental health disorder or if the mental health disorders are the cause of migraines. This is largely due to studies that have shown instances where people who are afflicted by migraines eventually suffer from mental health disorders due to reduced quality of life and other studies that have shown mental health disorders that have led to migraine like symptoms due to some other underlying reason that tie the 2 comorbidities together. Understanding migraines and how they can impact the emergence and severity of anxiety and depression, and vice versa, can help individuals find the right treatment to improve quality of life and potentially address and eliminate one or both comorbidities.
Which Treatments Can Help
If you have a mental health condition, it’s important to treat it as well as your migraine. In addition to improving your mental health, this can help your headache treatments work better and make you more likely to follow your migraine treatment plan.
There are several effective treatments for anxiety and depression, some of which also work to ease migraine. Your doctor may recommend one or a combination, such as therapy and medication.
- Psychotherapy. There are many kinds of psychotherapy. One of the most effective types for anxiety is cognitive behavioral therapy. It helps you learn to change the way you behave and think and develop coping skills to lower stress, anxiety and depression. CBT can also help to prevent migraine or shorten attacks.
- Medication. Some antidepressants that work on the brain chemical serotonin can treat migraine, depression, and anxiety. Other medications treat just depression while you continue with other treatments for migraine.
- Biofeedback. In a biofeedback session, body functions like your heart rate and pulse are monitored and shown to you on a screen. This helps you learn to calm the stress response in your body — for example, by relaxing your muscles. Research has shown that biofeedback can help you manage migraine, too.
Show Sources
Recommended Reading: Thyroid And Depression And Anxiety
Migraines And Bipolar Spectrum Disorder
The relationship between bipolar spectrum disorder and migraines also appears to have a bidirectional causal relationship. Individuals that suffer from migraines are 3x more likely suffer from bipolar disorder while one third of individuals that suffer from bipolar disorder also experience migraines. Since bipolar disorder is typically caused by genetics and / or biological differences in how the brain operates, migraines are likely a common symptom that is shared by those inflicted with bipolar disorder. Similar to the other mental health issues, bipolar disorders are often exacerbated by high levels of stress which can also trigger the onset of migraines.
Knowledge Learned From Imaging Studies: How Functional Imaging Studies Might Lend Insights Into Shared Pathophysiology Between Migraine And Psychiatric Comorbidities
Research neuroimaging studies provide insights into the emotional component of migraine symptoms and might provide insights into the comorbidity between migraine and psychiatric disorders. Migraine studies demonstrate abnormal function, structure and connectivity of brain regions that play important roles in determining emotional responses to pain and to other sensory stimuli, and in determining general affect and mood. Greater pain-induced functional activation, and stronger functional connectivity of these regions, likely contribute to determining the emotional aspect of migraine symptoms, and could partially account for the coexistence of psychiatric disorders with migraine.
Affective-motivational brain regions that have been commonly identified as having abnormal function or structure in migraine studies include: anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula, prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and amygdala. illustrates these brain regions.
Affective-motivational brain regions commonly identified as having abnormal function or structure in migraine studies.
Also Check: Where To Go If You Have Depression
Relationship Between Migraines And Depression
Research into the relationship between migraines and depression has indicated that people who experience migraines are five times more likely to develop depression than those who do not experience migraines. Migraines are a chronic condition and can often cause a significant amount of recurring pain. Experiencing migraines routinely can cause a person to feel angry, sad, or defeated and may lead to depression.
Conversely, people who have depression may begin to experience migraines. In this case, the depression is not a response to the migraines, but rather the migraines occur as a symptom of depression. This can happen after a person has been living with depression for some time. Anxiety caused by migraines, such as worrying about when the next migraine attack may occur, can also exacerbate depression and depression symptoms.
Migraine And Depression: Is There A Link
There appears to be a bidirectional relationship between migraine and depression, in which one disorder increases the risk for the other and vice versa.
If you treat patients for migraines, you know that these headaches frequently occur in the absence of triggers, such as lack of sleep, skipping meals, noxious odors, and anxiety.
Sad moods are not among the typical migraine triggers, but some migraineurs notice that they experience sad moods before migraines occur-especially premenstrual migraines. There appears to be increasing evidence that there are a number of links between migraine and depression. As researchers explore these links, findings may eventually lead to insights about the etiology-and potentially even treatment, of the two conditions.
Migraine and depression comorbidity
Many individuals with depression do not experience migraines, and many individuals who experience migraines do not have depression. However, migraineurs have a reported 2- to 4-fold increase in lifetime risk of developing major depressive disorder.1
Distress caused by migraines and depression
And while depression typically lasts longer than migraine headaches, there is an episodic nature to both disorders. Thus, most people experience intermittent relief and, often, they experience an urgency to make up for lost time once symptoms begin to resolve.
Overlap in prophylactic treatment
Genetic studies
Future treatments
Also Check: Can I Get Out Of Depression
Migraine Symptoms And Triggers
The most common symptom of migraine is throbbing headache pain, experienced by 85 percent of patients. This is closely followed by sensitivity to light and sound, changes in vision and the presence of aura, as well as nausea and vomiting. While none of these individual symptoms is likely to cause depression, its easy to understand chronic migraine sufferers who deal with pain 15 days or per each month could develop depression. Patients who experience migraine headaches more often typically have a lower quality of life than those who only get occasional headaches. But what about the other way around? A 2008 survey conducted by the National Headache Foundation showed that some symptoms of depression could actually be triggers for migraine.
Migraines Lifestyle And Mental Health
Migraines and mental health disorders are also connected by the effects that chronic migraines have on your lifestyle. Migraines affect almost every aspect of your life, from the way you interact with your family to your performance at work. As your social life and progress towards your goals start to slip, your risk of mental health disorders, like depression, increases.
Don’t Miss: Can Postpartum Depression Start During Pregnancy
Understanding The Relationship Between Migraine And Mental Health
Migraine is linked to both depression and anxiety. In fact, people with migraine are about five times more likely to develop depression than someone without migraine, according to Dawn Buse, PhD, the director of behavioral medicine at the Montefiore Headache Center and an associate professor in the Department of Neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
Its very logical when youre living with a chronic disease like migraine, which is affecting your life in such a big way, that youre going to feel sad, down and frustrated about how its affecting your life, she says.
Buse says that about 20% of people with episodic migraineheadaches on 14 or fewer days per monthmay also have depression, and that number goes up as the number of headache attack days per month increases. Similarly, about 20% of people with episodic migraine have anxiety, and between 30% and 50% of people with chronic migraine also have anxiety.
Service Connection For Migraines And Depression
To establish service connection for migraines or depression, the veteran generally must produce three things:
- A current diagnosis of migraines or depression
- An in-service incident, injury, or event that caused or aggravated the migraines or depression and
- A medical nexus linking the current, diagnosed migraines or depression to the in-service occurrence.
Importantly, the veteran does not need to have an official diagnosis of migraines or depression during service to be eligible for service connection. The veteran may be diagnosed after service and still receive a grant of service connection, so long as they can indicate that the migraines or depression are related to service. A medical opinion is often the most successful way to establish the link between the condition and service.
Also Check: How To Know If I M Depressed Or Just Sad
What Is The Link Between Migraines And Mental Health Disorders
The link between migraines and certain mental health disorders like anxiety and depression has been established but it has yet to be determined if migraines can cause anxiety and depression, or vice versa. That being said, there are generally several categories of explanation for the existence of the different comorbidities impacting an individual simultaneously.
With the above considerations in mind, linking the cause and effect between migraines and mental illness is still difficult to determine since the link between the comorbidities is difficult to generalize. For many individuals the occurrence of chronic migraines leads to a lower quality of life which in turn results in the emergence of depression and anxiety months to years down the line. Other individuals live with depression and anxiety for some time before migraines are felt. Studies indicate that individuals that suffer from migraines, anxiety, or depression often experienced stress resulting from these issues. This may contribute to the emergence of medical and psychological comorbidities as stress may play a key role in the cyclical relationship of the different ailments. Other studies indicate that anxiety has a stronger correlation to increased migraine risk while dealing with migraine symptoms can lead to physical symptoms of depression. These connections create a cyclical pattern where worry leads to stress which triggers migraines which in turn increase the likelihood of depressive tendencies.
How To Take Care Of Your Mental Health
Certain healthy habits help protect your emotional well-being. As a bonus, many of them also may help you have fewer or less intense headaches.
Stay connected to friends and family. Migraine gets in the way of being social. But the support of others is a key part of good mental health. Research has shown that strong connections with family and friends lower your chance of both depression and anxiety. One study found that out of 100 things that can affect your mental health, social connection offered the best protection against depression.
Make sleep a priority. Not only does getting enough sleep help you avoid migraine, but it’s also critical to your emotional health. Your best bet is to stick to a consistent sleep routine. Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day. Give yourself time to wind down before you go to bed. And avoid caffeine or alcohol for at least 4 hours before bedtime.
Move your body every day. Exercise helps stave off headaches while it improves your mental outlook. And it doesnât have to be intense. A 30-minute walk can boost your mood in a big way. If that feels like too much, start with shorter sessions of movement throughout your day.
Practice relaxation techniques to reduce stress. This is another tactic that can help control migraine while benefitting your mental health. Try mindfulness exercises, meditation, or mind-body practices like yoga or tai chi.
Don’t Miss: How To Treat Resistant Depression
The Surprising Link Between Migraines And Mental Health
If youre afflicted with migraines, you know firsthand the misery they bring: the disconcerting auras, the pounding pain, the nausea. Their end may bring you relief finally, you can do something as simple as watching television without wanting to scream but their impact lingers.
At least theres some comfort in knowing youre not alone. In the United States, 11.7 percent of the population suffers at least one migraine per year, according to the American Academy of Neurology. Of those with migraines, approximately one-third experience three or more events per month, and about half report severe impairment during these episodes.
How Are Migraines And Depression Related To Each Other
Migraines and depression may be related several ways. They both may be caused by similar brain chemicals. Also, because migraines are responsible for severe pain and disability, the migraine attacks and reduced quality of life may lead to a depressed mood, while the mood changes may trigger migraines, as can many other conditions.
Is there a link between anxiety and migraine?
Relaxation therapies are similarly effective for some in treating anxiety and depression, as well as combating stress, which can exacerbate migraine symptoms. These strategies involve calming the nervous system with meditative exercises like deep breathing or guided visual imagery.
Do you get headaches if you have depression?
If depression is an underlying condition, you may experience headaches. Secondary headaches that are brought on by depression are typically tension headaches, according to the National Headache Foundation.
Is there a link between migraines and emotional abuse?
Other studies have indicated similar trends, with an April 2014 study in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research by Suat Kucukgoncu, et al., also showing higher rates of childhood emotional abuse in patients with migraine .
You May Like: Depressed No One To Talk To
Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
There is extremely limited data on migraine and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder . A cross-sectional study reported an increased prevalence of migraine in patients with persistent ADHD compared with the general population . Of note, comorbid depression and anxiety were more prevalent in patients with persistent ADHD suffering from migraines than in those without migraines.