Depression and Headaches
There is another subject I would like to discuss - Depression.
Depression is a word I see very often in E-mails regarding my program.
- How severely was I depressed when I was suffering from constant tension
headaches?
- What came first - depression or chronic headaches?
- Have I consulted psychology specialist aabout my depression?
- Can I recommend a depression specialist in New York area?
This is just a small portion of my correspondence regarding Depression. As a
majority of my correspondents I cannot say that I was severely depressed prior
to the prolonged periods of constant headaches.
When I saw neurologist first time, he wanted to put me on anti-depressants! My
reaction was-“Is this crazy? Never heard of chronic headaches being linked to
depression. Can feel pain coming out of my neck and shoulders and forming into a
headache so I don't see how it could possibly be anything but that.” I think
it's a pretty typical scenario.
I am very shy person. Typical introvert, I can say. I used to have episodic mood
swinging in my life. I think those factors have played significant role in the
development of depression. People with elevated social anxiety are likely to be
depression's victims. People who are perfectionists (typical me) strong
candidates for depression as well.
People with depressive illness may develop bodily symptoms, and conversely
people with painful organic diseases tend to become depressed. Certain details
about the headache may indicate an underlying depression. Although the headache
may be secondary to depression, the pain is very, very real.
According to new research, almost half of chronic tension headache sufferers
also suffer from anxiety and depression. Researchers were unable to determine
whether the psychological problems actually preceded the onset of the headaches.
Morning headaches affect about one person in 13 in the general population and
are associated with depression and anxiety disorders, according to an article in
the January 12 issue of The Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives
journals.
There is no question that unremitting, severe headaches can be depressing,
and that depression often improves when pain is controlled. However, not all
patients with similar levels of headaches suffer depression. Sometimes
depression remains a significant concern even when headaches are no longer a
problem.
There is a strong connection between brain's chemical imbalance and muscle
tension. So, gradually it becomes a part of you. Constant Tension Headaches
become attribute of every day of your life. The process is very slow, though.
One cannot catch the exact moment when depression conquered his entire mind and
body.
The treatment of chronic headache disorders can include medications, which are
typically used for depression. Even though these medications were initially
designed for one purpose they used now prevent headaches from occurring.
One more major thing, I realized, that only by mobilizing my own intelligence
and my own internal recourses I can finally be a winner over my depression. When
I started developing my program concurring depression was not the primary
target. At the beginning I was trying to achieve just as little as possible -
not to have headaches for one hour. Slowly starting from half of a day headache
free, to several days -headaches free. Finally one morning I woke up with almost
forgotten feeling: Full of energy and enormous desire to live. As you've
probably seen it in my program, this is easier said than done. But, I keep
repeating: There is no easy remedy, no magical pill. Just stick with my program.
Michelle Simkins
questions? E-mail me:
michelle_simkins@yahoo.com
