Migraine

Yesterday I was thinking about how everything has its own awareness day/week/month. So I decided to do some Google-ing and see if there was one for Migraines.

Well, the UK and Australia have "Migraine" awareness weeks, but it seems in the US it is "Headache" awareness week.

First of all, its 6/1-6/7 and you can find a bit more info (not much yet) on the National Headache Foundation's website.

Get read for the soap box.

I don't like being smushed in with "headaches". Now don't get me wrong, CDH, tension headaches, etc are all bad things and terribly underfunded for research, and I have no problem with bringing awareness to that.

My problem is, to me grouping migraines together with Headache awareness just perpetuates the horribly wrong idea so many people have that a migraine is a headache.
I don't get headaches. I get migraines. I know that isn't the intent, and I know they aren't trying to offend me personally , but I'm a little annoyed.

Am I over reacting? (I probably am) But I think we should have our own week!

.... Turns out, so does the MAGNUM association.

MAGNUM's House & Senate Resolution Drafts

Glad to see by the couple of post I'm not just being a hyper-sensitive loony!!!

I agree. A headache and a migraine are different. No doubt about it. And migraines are classified as a neurological disease- headaches are not.

Valerie

The NHF constantly calls migraines "headaches" as if the two words were interchangable. Maybe everyone should call or write to them and complain! www.headaches.org.

quote:

Originally posted by ValerieH:
I agree. A headache and a migraine are different. No doubt about it. And migraines are classified as a neurological disease- headaches are not.

Valerie

I agree with all the posts on this topic. I firmly believe that lumping migraine with headache just gives more fuel to the myth that migraines are headaches.

That said, I will bring the awareness of National Headache Week to my blog.

I agree, that it is frustrating to be grouped with other "headache disorders" and it seems to advance the myth that mirgraine is just a headache. But at the same time, these opportunities (whether we are grouped with other headache disorders or not) could bring a lot of awareness to migraines.

I feel that "National Headache Awareness Week" is a great opportunity to diminish those myths and provide people with information that a migraine is not just simply a headache. What an opportunity it provides us with!

Kelly

Hi all,

you are so right headaches and migraines are qualitatively different. To link them with headaches creates a misperception that a migraine is just a bad headache (a quantitative comparison on a similar spectrum.

MJ