MIGRAINE SYMPTOMS?

TAKE THIS TEST!

Have you ever wondered if people who get migraines have a special personality? Are there certain things that we have experienced, unique ways that we are constructed, kinks in our personalities or brains that give us the dubious distinction of having some of the worst headache pain on the planet?

The answer may lie in that big Superman "S."

Did One Or More Parents Get Migraines?


Some people believe that migraine headaches may have a genetic component: If one or both of your parents had migraines, there is a greater chance that you will, too.

Of course, just because you and a parent have migraines doesn't mean these headaches are due to genetics. What is equally likely? We learn to respond to situations the same way our parents did, and sometimes that way leads to migraines. (This would actually be a more hopeful situation, since you would have more control over getting rid of your headaches.)

Are You A Perfectionist?

Many migraine sufferers learned early in their lives that no matter what they did, it was never enough.

Maybe they had parents who expected 'straight A's' and they have been trying to get top marks ever since.

Maybe they had teachers who humiliated and/or punished them when they made mistakes or failed -- and they have internalized a fear of failure. That has to be one of the most damaging things you can do to a child. This is how human beings learn: You try, you fail, you try again. But if someone makes you fear failure, you don't just want to avoid failure, you don't even want to TRY.

If you imagine the internal stress that each new challenge produces -- you can understand how this personality type would be prone to migraine headaches.

Are You Driven?

Many migraine sufferers feel they HAVE to achieve. Perhaps as children they had to perform (in academics, sports, music, etc.) in order to get approval and love from authority figures. The learned to connect their self-worth to what they do, rather than to what they are.

As adults, they are incredibly motivated, ambitious workers -- climbing corporate ladders that are unending since the measure for success is external instead of internal. Is it any wonder the pressure leads to a migraine headache?

Are You Critical?

Many migraine sufferers were criticized as children. Authority figures may have thought they were spurring them to achieve their potential, but the lesson that was learned was that there was something basically flawed in them.

As they grew into adults, this became a two-edged sword. They learned to be critical of themselves AND of others. This helped to erode their own self-confidence while putting others at a distance, alienating them. This prevented them from learning how other cope with their symptoms, and cut off the sympathy of those who best understand what they are suffering.

Do You Find It Difficult To Express Your Emotions?

Hiding or suppressing their feelings was a lesson many migraine headache sufferers learned at an early age. Perhaps they saw parents doing this, and copied their behavior. Perhaps they were ridiculed for their feelings, or told that emotions made them weak. Maybe they were criticized or punished for expressing themselves.

Whatever the cause, they grew up unable to process and release their negative emotions. And they learned not to embrace and express the positive emotions that would have made them feel better about themselves and drawn friends to them. Both of these would help them to reduce the stress that creates headache symptoms.

Are You Compelled To Control, Clean, Organize?

A need to be safe probably started this 'compulsion' for many who get migraine headaches. As children, they experienced the stress of unpredictability with authority figures. They felt that their little world could fall apart at any time. They responded by trying to make their environment clean, orderly, organized -- so that their world was knowable, predictable -- and safe.

As adults, these individuals may feel compelled (without knowing why) to control their environment, and even the people in their environment. They may seek managerial positions not because they want to control, but because they do not want to be controlled, and experience the symptoms that this leads to.

Do You Hate Procrastination?

The insecurity of not knowing if something they needed would be delivered made young sufferers of migraines enemies of procrastination. 'Now' was the only comfortable timeframe for something that they needed.

As adults, these people have an aversion to putting things off. It gets under their skin. They have to know that a pending issue is taken care of before they can move on to something else. Knowing there is an open item can lead to the strain and symptoms of a migraine.

Make It Easy On Yourself

Headache Sufferers: Do you know how remarkable you are? Do you have any idea? In spite of all of the trauma you have been through, you persevere and you succeed.You have enormous stamina and drive. And you are creative. With all the obstacles you must overcome, you find a myriad of ways to do it.

But be kind to yourselves. That may not be scientific or quantifiable, but you know what I'm saying. Don't make things more difficult than they have to be. Don't turn yourselves inside out trying to reach your (self-imposed and too-high) goals. Make things easier on yourselves, wherever you can. You are harder on yourselves and more demanding than anyone else is.

Let up. Your head will thank you for it.