How Migraines Impact Your Mental Health

Mental health, energy, and clarity are important to living an empowered life. You need to have your wits about you and the focus to turn your ideas into actions. All of that is much more difficult when you have a migraine. We've known many professionals who suffer from migraines and they can face a special challenge in staying mentally balanced and energized.

Anyone who has experienced a migraine understands the mood drop that comes with those pounding headaches and piercing symptoms. It's hard to maintain a chipper attitude when lying in a dark room is your only recourse. The more migraines you have to deal with over time, the more it wears on your mental and physical resources. Migraines are known to cause depression and anxiety and can create a cycle with bipolar and PTSD conditions.

Let's explore how migraines can affect, and can be affected by, your mental health.   

Migraines Can Cause Depression

According to WebMD People who experience regular migraines are five times more likely to be depressed. A person without a genetic or other causal reason to be depressed can be driven into a low-motivation state or even into despair in the face of regular migraines. This is an emotional and motivational response to both pain and the helplessness that migraines can inspire when not effectively treated.

Migraines and Anxiety

Medical News Today found that those who experience migraines are 25 times more likely to be anxious or nervous from day to day. Migraines and the knowledge that one is around the corner can generate anxiety in those who worry about them. The tension created by migraines and pre-migraine symptoms can also create nerves and nervous symptoms independently.

This means that anyone with migraines is much more likely to become anxious as a result of regular migraine attacks.

The Relationship Between Migraines and Bipolar Disorder

Migraines are statistically common in people who are diagnosed with bipolar disorder. One-third of those with Bipolar I and half of those with Bipolar II have also been diagnosed with migraines. The exact relationship between migraines and bipolar disorder is unclear, but reducing migraines can increase your ability to face and control bipolar symptoms.

The Cycle of Migraines and PTSD

Those with PTSD also have a higher chance of experiencing migraines. These can coincide, blend, or be mistaken for PTSD headaches which are similar but not quite the same condition. It is suspected that those with a predisposition for migraines who develop PTSD may trigger the migraines in the same way that other types of stress can trigger migraine headaches. Likewise, migraines can then trigger PTSD distress creating a vicious cycle if untreated.

Improving Your Migraines and Mental Health

If your mental health is suffering due to migraine headaches, you have some options at your fingertips. The best way to stop a migraine is to take the right migraine medicine as soon as you sense the first signs. You may also have a few personal at-home tricks that work to reduce your headache or regain your mental clarity. But addressing your mental health can also help reduce the stress that triggers your migraines.

Getting help through online coaching can help you both reduce your personal stress and handle the emotional challenges of living with a migraine condition.

Aspyn Coaching can help you manage stress with self-guided therapy sessions. For free daily sessions, download the app.