Boy, that's a Real Migraine!

a. Europe's $1.50 Headache Is Italy's Migraine(Headline in Forbes.com today, article by Vidya Ram – the article is about the rising euro and its effect on Italian exporters.)

b.  SOUTHERN AFRICA: Integration and the migrant migraine (Headline from IRIN, posted by Reuters today - the article is about how the flow of Zimbabwean migrants to neighboring countries is hindering the goal of Southern African regional integration.) 

c. Saturday - slept badly Friday night, migraine by afternoon, pain at level 3 on left, moderate nausea, picked up boys from movies, pain at level 8 on return, both sides now, extreme light sensitivity, took Imitrex 7 pm, lay down, room dark.  Can't read or look at computer screen.  Vomiting on & off 3 hours, pain varied from 8 to 5,  went to sleep around 10.  Pain at a 3 on waking, tired, achy, depressed all day.

Okay, are you ready?  Which one is the real migraine?  You picked c, right?  Good job!  You get a gold star.  a and b are known as frustrations, hassles, problems or perhaps international crises.  They are not migraines.

Am I being too much of a stickler here?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  There's a lot of real news about migraine in the news these days.  Partly thanks to the New York Times Migraine Blog, or maybe our chance for some recognition and understanding has finally come.  But most of us get annoyed by the trivialization of a very real and debilitating illness.

Interestingly, today the first 15 pages of results of a Google search on migraine are actually some kind of content about migraines. This was not so a few months ago, when I tried the same search and came up with many references like the two above, and one about a hockey team's poor performance being a “migraine” for the team manager.

I am willing to ascribe most of this to ignorance, not evil intention.  I think it's become a fashion to refer to a big hassle as a "migraine" instead of just a "headache."  However, it does distract public attention from the fact that this is a disease.  A fact that most people still don't know.

Is it okay to say "what a headache?"  If you've ever had a headache, you know what that means.  Most people have had a headache, and know that tension can lead to one.  So we call things that make us tense or upset "a headache."  People also say "I just about had a stroke!" or "I just about had a heart attack!" I've been guilty of that myself.  After a stroke hit someone very near and dear to me, I didn't feel like joking around about it any more.

This is in the category of being responsible for what comes out of our mouths.  We create our world through language.  We shape what is possible for ourselves and others.  You only have to listen to political double-speak to understand that.  Whoever gets to frame the issues tends to win the debate.

And so, maybe we can call a hassle a hassle and a crisis a crisis?  It seems like in our culture we always have to go one better, to make things more extreme.  If 10 years ago we called a hassle a headache, today we have to call it a migraine.  What will we call it 10 years from now?  A brain tumor?

- Megan Oltman
Somebody stop me before my head explodes!

                                                cave waterfall courtesy of subflux; brain courtesy of Gaetan Lee 

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Comments

[MaxJerz]

I think this is part of the reason Teri Robert (and others) now capitalize Migraine as a way to draw attention to it as a real disease, something more than just a headache.

[Mary]

I think it does trivialize it. None of the editors I've worked with who also are migraine sufferers would ever use it the same way.

[Abi]

Good job, Megan!

One comment though -- I'll be very glad when the NY Times blog is no longer new. It's great, but it seems to me that all the fuss over it is REALLY taking away from all the other great blogs and info sites out there. Great stuff written by other people is being overlooked while everyone fusses over the NY Times blog. There are other migraine writers online who are as good and as dedicated. Maybe it's because many people view the NY Times as some great institution. Who knows. I just hope the fuss dies down soon so we can all get back to the business of fighting this darned disease.

Shalom,
Abi

[Megan Oltman]

Interesting, Abi! I think it's kind of like when a cause suddenly gets a celebrity endorsement. It's annoying when the celebrities get all the attention. Totally agree with you that there are other great blogs & info sites that deserve attention. I don't want to short-change any of the talented migraine writers and advocates out there. I just thought the public attention seemed greater in the past few weeks, since the NYT got into the act. I'm hopeful that this isn't just a flash in the pan - that this kind of media attention helps us get taken more seriously. Am I too optimistic?

[Abi]

Celebrity? What celebrity? The NY Times? Paula Kamen, who says she doesn't have Migraines, but it's supposed to be a Migraine blog? Oliver Sacks because he wrote a book that was great in it's day, but what has he done since?

Not picking on you, Megan! I think people let themselves become slaves to names, then don't stop and think too much.

Is this giving Migraine disease visibility? Sure it is. What I think is sad is that the NY Times doesn't have someone from the National Migraine Association (MAGNUM) or maybe Teri Robert writing there. They ARE the people who have been keeping Migraine visible for quite a few years now. I follow Teri's lead and capitalize Migraine to imply that it's NOT a headache. It's a disease, but too few people understand that.

Keep writing!
Abi

[Megan Oltman]

Don't worry, I don't feel picked on. I do think the NYT has celebrity status in the media. That doesn't make them an authority, it just gets attention! They have certainly not done the best job they could for Migraine advocacy! They could have chosen to highlight some of the real dedicated players in this field, and didn't. And that's a shame - if there's attention, it should be as effective as possible. Lots of us in leaving comments on their blog have referenced MAGNUM, and AHDA. I wish those references were in the posts themselves, not just the comments.

I'd love to brainstorm with folks about how we might be able to use the media attention to advance the research and advocacy. Anyway, we'll keep on writing - I will, hope you will too!
- Megan

[Rain Gem]

Megan, so very true...

I go through a couple of dozen articles daily to find good content to post.

Abi, it seems to me that both Teri Robert (my most favorite book about Migraine is by her, BTW) and MAGNUM are about 3-4 years behind the curve when it comes to keeping up with modern social-based information exchange. They are simply not visible to most people outside a small circle of migraine bloggers and writers and a handful of the more informed Migraine patients.

Just look at MAGNUM's website. Good informational source but hardly appealing to come back there once you've read the important bits.

Teri is much more advanced, being integrated into Healthcentral's portal but I still think her abilities are under-utilized. She is as close to our own "celebrity" as one can possibly get. What she needs is a good agent :P .

Rain