Stress Headaches

I know we all know what stress is like and how we behave during a stressful time. Some people can work excellently with the pressures that obstacles bring with them. Other people become overcome by the great pressure that they are under. In many individuals this pressure manifests itself in the form of stress headaches.

Stress headaches are usually caused by extreme amounts of stressful situations; ie more than an individual would normally find themselves involved in. Ability to deal with these obstacles gradually diminishes and then stress begins to take its toll on them and a stress headache can start.

Sometimes, having different types of headache can cause stress headaches just because we need to cope with the headache and get on with our everyday life. As the headache gradually takes control of our life, we begin to feel stressed and unable to carry on. All of these headaches (including stress headaches) can be controlled safely and, in some situations, prevented from occurring again with the correct drugs.

There are other methods of coping with stress headaches apart from using medicine. These other methods include: cognitive therapy, behavioural therapy and physical therapy.

Cognitive therapy seeks to redirect a stress headache. In this method, the person is taught to understand what triggers the stress symptoms and how they can change their response to these situations.

Behavioural therapy is the next way of treating stress headaches. When people become overwhelmed by a situation, they try dealing with their headache by taking drugs, alcohol, prescription tranquilizers, pain medications and some people also take illicit drugs. As taking these substances will only provide temporary help, it is better to give them the tools to build a healthy lifestyle, which can help that person to cope better with their stress headaches.

Physical therapy attempts to use biofeedback responses. People, who suffer from stress headaches, learn to be aware of and minimize the amount of physical tension in their bodies. The treatments that are recommended for this method are muscle relaxation, deep breathing, yoga and other self-relaxation methods. It is easy to understand what effect these measures have on sufferers of stress headaches, as these techniques relax the body.

The various techniques of therapy that were discussed above are all interrelated. However, using all three of these therapies, including headache medication, will afford the individual a type of relief that will work for them for the rest of their lives and not just the short time when they are experiencing a stress headache.

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