migraine and depression

Childhood abuse may lead to migraine and depression

Women who have been victims of child abuse and suffer from migraine are more likely experience depression later in life.

Researchers from the University of Toledo-Health Science Campus surveyed 949 women with migraine about their history of abuse, depression and headache characteristics. Forty per cent of the women had chronic headache, more than 15 headaches a month, and 72 per cent reported very severe headache-related disability. Physical or sexual abuse was reported in 38 per cent of the women and 12 per cent reported both physical and sexual abuse in the past.

It was found that women with migraine who had major depression were twice as likely as those with migraine alone to report being sexually abused as a child. If the abuse continued past the age of 12 years, the women with migraine were five times more likely to report depression. The finding that a variety of somatic symptoms were also more common in people with migraine who had a history of abuse suggests that childhood maltreatment may lead to a spectrum of disorders, which have been linked to serotonin dysfunction. It was also found that women with depression and migraine were twice as likely to report multiple types of abuse as a child compared to those without depression, including physical abuse, fear for life, and being in a home with an adult who abused alcohol or drugs.

The findings indicate that abuse in childhood has a powerful effect on adult health disorders and the effect intensifies when abuse lasts a long time or continues into adulthood. The findings also support research suggesting that sexual abuse may have more impact on health than physical abuse and that childhood sexual abuse victims, in particular, are more likely to be adversely affected.