"migraine Personality"

NEW YORK, Aug 11 (Reuters Health) -- Some studies have linked the development of migraine headaches with certain personality traits, such as anxiety, repressed emotion, and depression. But Dutch researchers turn these findings around with a new report that suggests specific personality characteristics develop "as a consequence of suffering from episodic headache."

The relationship between stress and migraine and the existence of a migraine personality type has been widely investigated, Dr. D.L. Stronks of Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and associates explain in their report. However, they also note that results of previous studies have been "...diverse and inconsistent."

To avoid some of these inconsistencies, Stronks and colleagues "focused on the specificity of stress reactions and personality traits in migraine patients and compared these with tension headache and headache-free patients." The subjects included 23 migraine patients, 18 tension headache patients, and 22 'controls' (patients who did not experience chronic headaches). The researchers assessed moods and anxiety levels in the study participants before, during, and after a psychological stressor.

"Migraine patients were not found to have a higher disposition for anxiety, depression, or rigidity than tension headache patients or controls," the investigators report in the July issue of the journal Cephalalgia. They also found no differences among the subjects in the use of coping or defense mechanisms.

"Compared to the control group, however, both migraine patients and tension headache patients were more inclined to use internally focused defense mechanisms and less inclined to seek social support when confronted with a problem," the investigators write. All of the headache patients were also slower to recover from depressive feelings and from fatigue caused by mental stress than the control group.

Stronks' group writes that "in contrast to previous results, this study does not present evidence of a migraine personality." Rather, they say, it suggests that certain personality characteristics develop in response to recurrent headache.

The authors also suggest further research to examine the possible link between psychological defense and coping styles and recurrent headaches. "If such a link exists, it might be beneficial for these patients if they were to learn to direct their unpleasant emotions less towards themselves... and to seek more social support when confronted with problems," the researchers conclude.

SOURCE: Cephalalgia 1999;19:566-574.