HEADACHES increase the odds of suicide, a new study says.
While migraines and cluster headaches have already been linked to higher suicide risk, people with milder types, such as tension headaches, may also be affected.
People who had headaches were twice as likely to attempt suicide than those who did not get them.
The completed suicide risk was 40 per cent higher, the study showed.
US and Danish scientists compared nearly 120,000 people with a headache diagnosis to 600,000 people without one.
The team followed up with the participants after 15 years, between 1995 and 2020.
Among people with a headache disorder, 0.78 per cent had attempted suicide compared with 0.33 per cent in the non-headache group.
Some 0.21 per cent had completed suicide after 15 years, compared with 0.15 per cent in the non-headache group.
The increased risk of suicide was seen in all headache types.
But the strongest link was shown for trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias (TACs) and post-traumatic headache.
Post-traumatic headache disorder is a result of a brain injury, while TACs are a group of disorders including cluster headache and paroxysmal hermicrania.
Cluster headaches has already earned the nickname of ‘suicide headaches’ because the attacks are so severe.
You Are Not Alone
If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support:
- CALM, www.thecalmzone.net, 0800 585 858
- Heads Together,www.headstogether.org.uk
- HUMEN www.wearehumen.org
- Mind, www.mind.org.uk, 0300 123 3393
- Papyrus, www.papyrus-uk.org, 0800 068 41 41
- Samaritans,www.samaritans.org, 116 123
Around one in 1,000 people in the UK get them, with usually one side of the head affected around an eye.
Cluster headaches can be relentless, happening multiple times a day and potentially continuing for weeks or months.
They may stop for a while or there may be no gap between headaches, says the NHS.
The study findings, published in JAMA Network, can’t prove cause and effect but the authors described the link as “robust and persistent”.
Headaches are a common cause of work absences and can be linked with mood, anxiety and substance-use disorders – and the participants in this study also showed to have higher rates of such problems.
The researchers therefore called for treatment of headache disorders to include screening for signs of depression and suicidal thoughts.
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Ten types of headache and how to treat them
Tension headache
- How common: 75 per cent of adults
- Symptoms: tension on scalp, both sides, feels like a tight vice
- Cause: stress, sleep problems, caffeine
- Treatment: rest, relaxation, painkillers
Vision induced headache
- How common: fairly common
- Symptoms: tiredness or soreness behind the eyes
- Cause: glasses, contact lenses, screens
- Treatment: eye test, cutting down screen time
Migraine
- How common: 10million people in the UK
- Symptoms: severe headache with throbbing on one side, sometimes with aura symptoms (visual or auditory disturbances)
- Cause: genetics, menstrual cycle, caffeine, alcohol, stress, fatigue, smoking, anxiety, depression
- Treatment: paracetamol, contraception, decrease caffeine intake, prescription medication
Cluster headache
- How common: one in 1,000 people in the UK
- Symptoms: severe headache usually on one side, around one eye, red watery eye, swollen eyelid or drooping of eye
- Cause: unknown
- Treatment: oxygen, triptans, beta blockers
Medication overuse headache
- How common: one to two per cent of the UK population
- Symptoms: dull, constant headache
- Cause: frequent painkiller use
- Treatment: alternative medications, decreasing painkiller use
Nerve pain headache
- How common: eight in 100,000 people
- Symptoms: sudden attack of severe, sharp, shooting facial pain that lasts from a few seconds to about two minutes
- Cause: pressure by an artery, tumour, talking, smiling, chewing, head movements, multiple sclerosis, shingles
- Treatment: prescription medication
Thunderclap headache
- How common: 50 in 100,000 adults
- Symptoms: severe pain out of the blue and can be accompanied by vomiting, fever, seizures and an altered mental state
- Cause: brain bleed, blood clot, stroke, meningitis, encephalitis
- Treatment: urgent care in A&E
Pressure headache
- How common: fairly common
- Symptoms: pulsating sensation that comes on quickly and lasts for short periods
- Cause: coughing, exercise, sex, hypertension, space-occupying lesion
- Treatment: GP appointment, avoiding triggers
Infection headache
- How common: 60 to 100 per cent of people with infections
- Symptoms: combined with symptoms like blocked sinuses
- Cause: infection (e.g. flu, sinusitis), fever
- Treatment: over-the-counter painkillers, antipyretics
Trauma headache
- How common: 30 per cent of people with head injury
- Symptoms: nausea, dizziness, lethargy
- Cause: head injury
- Treatment: paracetamol, avoid alcohol, rest
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