Psychologists at NUIG are trying to discover what psychological factor might contribute a migraine, and they’re seeking the help of 5,000 adults across the UK and Ireland to help them find out.
There’s an estimated 600,000 to 900,000 people in Ireland affected by migraine, and as many as 1 billion worldwide according to the latest date from the World Health Organisation.
And while almost everyone gets headaches from time to time they are not comparable to the level of pain and stress that migraines can inflict on people.
The School of Psychology at NUI Galway wants to determine how factors such as attachment style, childhood experiences, dissociation, current stress, anxiety and mood can influence this problem.
They aim to carry out a large online survey seeking responses from adults in Ireland and the United Kingdom who have been diagnosed with migraine.
“There is a growing awareness of the impact of migraine in Ireland,” said Dr Ian Mays, one of the three researchers leading this study along with Dr Jonathan Egan and Professor Brian McGuire.
Dr Mays said that this growth in public awareness has been seen multiple times this year with the publishing of a Quick Reference Guide for migraines by the Irish College of General Practitioners in February, and Brain and Migraine Awareness weeks which took place in March and September.
“Stressful life events in childhood may predispose people to developing chronic health conditions including migraines and we want to research whether this is true in a large sample of people experiencing migraine in Ireland,” added Dr Egan.
He also said that those psychological factors might also influence how people manage migraines on top of how likely they are to develop the issue, as well as whether they feel they can access support or not.
Anyone who would like to take part in the online survey can do so here.
