An unusual symptom of depression that most therapists miss…
Wednesdy, November 8, 2023.
New research suggests that the experience of morning headaches is correlated with both depression and anxiety.
Humans often attribute morning headaches to poor sleep hygiene. While that’s sometimes the case, poor sleep habits are not a singular cause of morning headaches.
Dr. Maurice M. Ohayon, the study’s author, said:
“Morning headache affects one individual in 13 in the general population.
Chronic morning headaches are a good indicator of major depressive disorders and insomnia disorders.
Contrary to what was previously suggested, however, they are not specific to sleep-related breathing disorder.”
However, depression, anxiety and poor sleep were not the only predictors of morning headaches.
How the study was conducted
The survey of nearly 20,000 humans (ok, 18,980) uncovered an interesting correlation between chronic morning headaches and anxiety and depressive disorders.
Dr. Ohayon also explains how consuming alcohol, high blood pressure, and various sleep disorders were also linked to morning headaches:
“We also found a positive association between heavy drinking—at least 6 alcoholic drinks per day—and morning headaches, and between the use of an anxiolytic medication and morning headaches.
Subjects using these psychoactive substances were twice as likely to report morning headaches.
Among organic disorders, we found that subjects with hypertension or musculoskeletal diseases had a higher risk of reporting morning headaches.
Changes in blood pressure are likely to cause headaches.
Among sleep disorders, dyssomnia not otherwise specified, which included restless legs syndrome, periodic limb movement disorder, and sleep disorders with multiple possible causes, had the highest association with morning headaches.”
Final Thoughts
For most of my life, I’ve suffered from an orphan disorder called Male Pattern Cluster Headache. What living with this condition has taught me is to be particularly curious about the narratives of headaches offered by my clients.
I believe that headaches are painful window into the soul, but a window, nonetheless. I appreciate how this research offers a profoundly useful line of inquiry for clinicians like me, who read research, and develop interventions.
The key is to be willing to see the headache as a herald with compelling urgency, and not merely a shallow affliction to be endured. Headaches, in my experience are often trying to tell us something.
Be well, stay kind, and Godspeed.
