Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-55f67697df-bzg56 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-05-09T03:52:12.843Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Headache and migraine

from Medical topics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2014

By
Bjørn Ellertsen
Edited by
Susan Ayers ,
Andrew Baum ,
Chris McManus ,
Stanton Newman ,
Kenneth Wallston ,
John Weinman  and
Robert West
Bjørn Ellertsen
Affiliation:
University of Stavanger
Susan Ayers
Affiliation:
University of Sussex
Andrew Baum
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Chris McManus
Affiliation:
St Mary's Hospital Medical School
Stanton Newman
Affiliation:
University College and Middlesex School of Medicine
Kenneth Wallston
Affiliation:
Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
John Weinman
Affiliation:
United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas's
Robert West
Affiliation:
St George's Hospital Medical School, University of London
Get access

Summary

Introduction

Headache is one of the most common nuisances known to man. The pain may be secondary, as in fever or hypertension, or primary, as in migraine. It has been estimated that about 30% of people in the western world suffer from one or more severe headache episodes per year. In the UK, more than 3 million workdays are estimated lost per year due to headache. The majority of headache patients have migraine, tension-type headache (TTH) or combinations of these. About 65% of the patients seen in headache clinics suffer from migraine, 25% from TTH and about 10% from other types of headache. Although such samples are selective, the relative proportions of types of headache are probably representative of the population. The causes of headache syndromes like migraine, cluster headache and TTH are largely unknown. However, knowledge about clinical, physiological, biochemical and psychological characteristics is substantial.

The definitions of headache syndromes lacked precision in the past, making it problematic to compare studies. Therefore, the International Headache Society (IHS) formed a Classification Committee which published diagnostic criteria in 1988 (IHS, 1988). Most research published after 1988 adheres to these criteria.

Pathophysiology

In the field of psychophysiology, psychological variables are manipulated while physiological variables are measured as dependents. The field has yielded important information about the pathophysiology of headache. When reviewing the literature on response characteristics of patients, it becomes evident that the earlier distinction between migraine as vascular, and TTH as myalgic is oversimplified.

Type
Chapter
Information
Cambridge Handbook of Psychology, Health and Medicine , pp. 724 - 726
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Adler, C. S.,Adler, S. M. & Packard, R. C. (1987). Psychiatric aspects of headache. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.
Andrasik, F. (2003). Behavioral treatment approaches to chronic headache. Neurological Sciences, 24(Suppl. 2), 280–5.Google Scholar
Budzynski, T., Stoyva, J. & Adler, C. (1970). Feedback-induced muscle relaxation: application to tension headache. Journal of Behavioural Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 1, 205.Google Scholar
DeDomini, P., DelBene, E., Gori-Savellini, S.et al. (1983). Personality patterns of headache sufferers. Cephalalgia, (Suppl. 1), 195–220.Google Scholar
Ellertsen, B. (1992). Personality factors in recurring and chronic pain. Cephalalgia, 12, 129–32.Google Scholar
Ellertsen, B. & Hammerborg, D. (1982). Psychophysiological response patterns in migraine patients. Cephalalgia, 2, 19–21.Google Scholar
Ellertsen, B., Nordby, H. & Sjaastad, O. (1987 a). Psychophysiologic response patterns in tension headache: effects of tricyclic antidepressants. Cephalalgia, 7, 55–63.Google Scholar
Ellertsen, B., Nordby, H., Hammerborg, D. & Thorlacius, S. (1987 b). Psychophysiologic response patterns in migraine before and after temperature biofeedback. Cephalalgia, 7, 109–24.Google Scholar
Ellertsen, B., Troland, K. & Kløve, H. (1987 c). MMPI profiles in migraine before and after biofeedback treatment. Cephalalgia, 7, 101–8.Google Scholar
Ellertsen, B. & Troland, K. (1989). Personality characteristics in childhood migraine. Cephalalgia, 9(Suppl. 10), 238–9.Google Scholar
Fan, A. Y., Gu, R. J. & Zhou, A. N. (1999). MMPI changes associated with therapeutic intervention: a migraine control study. Headache, 39(8), 581–5.Google Scholar
Hermann, C. & Blanchard, E. B. (2002). Biofeedback in the treatment of headache and other childhood pain. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 27, 143–62.Google Scholar
Holroyd, K. A. & Penzien, D. B. (1990). Pharmacological versus non-pharmacological prophylaxis of recurrent migraine headache: a meta-analytic review of clinical trials. Pain, 42, 1–13.Google Scholar
Huber, D. & Henrich, G. (2003). Personality traits and stress sensitivity in migraine patients. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 29, 4–13.Google Scholar
International Headache Society (1988). Classification and diagnostic criteria for headache disorders, cranial neuralgias and facial pain. Cephalalgia, 8(Suppl. 7).
Kropp, P., Siniatchkin, M. & Gerber, W. (2002). On the pathophysiology of migraine – links for “Empirically based treatment” with neurofeedback. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 27, 203–13.Google Scholar
Kudrow, L. & Sutkus, B. J. (1979). MMPI pattern specificity in primary headache disorders. Headache, 19, 18–24.Google Scholar
Lanzi, G., Zambrino, C. A., Ferrari-Ginevra, O.et al. (2001). Personality traits in childhood and adolescent headache. Cephalalgia, 21, 53–60.Google Scholar
Mongini, F., Ibertis, F., Barbalonga, E. & Raviola, F. (2000). MMPI-2 profiles in chronic daily headache and their relationship to anxiety levels and accompanying symptoms. Headache, 40, 466–72.Google Scholar
Mongini, F., Keller, R., Deregibus, A.et al. (2003). Personality traits, depression and migraine in women: a longitudinal study. Cephalalgia, 23, 186–92.Google Scholar
Parsons, A. A. (2004). Cortical spreading depression: its role in migraine pathogenesis and possible therapeutic intervention. Current Pain and Headache Reports, 8, 410–16.Google Scholar
Philips, C. (1976). Headache and personality. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 20, 535–42.Google Scholar
Sargent, J. D. & Green, E. E. (1972). The use of autogenic feedback training in a pilot study of migraine and tension headache. Headache, 12, 120–4.Google Scholar
Silberstein, S. D. (2004). Migraine pathophysiology and its clinical implications. Cephalalgia, 24(Suppl. 2), 2–7.Google Scholar
Waldie, K. E. & Poulton, R. (2002). Physical and psychological correlates of primary headache in young adulthood: a 26 year longitudinal study. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 72, 86–92.Google Scholar
Zwart, J. A., Ellertsen, B. & Bovim, G. (1996). Psychosocial factors and MMPI-2 patterns in migraine, cluster headache, tension-type headache, and cervicogenic headache. New Trends in Experimental & Clinical Psychiatry, 12, 167–74.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×