Past research has shown that rates of depression and anxiety more than double among people who suffer chronic migraines. Even more striking are the suicide rates: almost one in four women and one in seven men who experience migraine with aura, a visual or neurological disturbance which precedes headaches in 15 percent of sufferers, attempt to take their own lives.
Research published in this month's edition of Neurology shows that this correllation is present as early as puberty, the point at which many sufferers begin experiencing symptoms.
Neurologists examined 121 Taiwanese students age 12-14 who reported chronic daily headaches. These students were further assessed for psychological disorders and suicide risk.
Results showed that almost half of these students, more than 3.5 times the normal rate, suffered from one or more psychological disorders, with 21 percent qualifying formajor depressive disorder (MDD) and 19 percent for panic disorder. Twenty percent were further to be determined at high suicide risk. This association was even stronger for adolescents with migraine with aura, whose risk of suicide was estimated as six times that of normal teens.
ABSTRACT: Psychiatric comorbidity and suicide risk in adolescents with chronic daily headache
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