Headaches and psychiatry

Headaches are one of the most common complaints. Headaches can be due to a minor reasons like influenza, or they can due to other medical conditions which may have very serious implications. Therefore the main approach should be to regard the headache primarily as a symptom and investigate if it is the by-product of another illness.

On the other hand, many types of headaches do not originate from an infection or some other condition inside the head, but are of repetitive nature and continue over months and years. In such cases the headache should be regarded as an illness in itself and treatment should be sought. Migraine and tension headaches are such headaches.

Tension headaches are the most common of type of headache. Daily problems and Life stressors generally play an important role. In most cases the correct approach is to regard such headaches as a reflection of the underlying psychiatric condition and as a symptom.

In tension headache which is a type of headache with specific charasteristics and a specific progression, treatment involves psychiatric techniques. Treatment with various psychiatric drugs and specific kinds of therapy is largely successful.