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        New Message Board Archives >> 2003 Posts >> CHs and psychosomatic disorders
        
(Message started by: HypnoticFreddy on Nov 12^th, 2003, 3:29pm)

Title: CHs and psychosomatic disorders
Post by HypnoticFreddy on Nov 12^th, 2003, 3:29pm

I wonder....from a statistical standpoint. Is their a correlation between those who suffer from CHs and mental disorders such as depression, bipolar, schizophrenia, etc.

I am not talking about being absolutely miserable during a CH cycle. I am talking about the full-blown mental diseases of the mind. Is there a correlation?

Can anyone shed some light on this?

Title: Re: CHs and psychosomatic disorders
Post by Woobie on Nov 12^th, 2003, 3:41pm

Wellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

I've read a couple threads before about anxiety, depression and bi-polar disorder..........

and if I remember correctly - a lot of people here suffer from such afflictions.

My husband has been dealing with depression/anxiety for many many years - before CH.

so..there ya go.

tina

Title: Re: CHs and psychosomatic disorders
Post by Woobie on Nov 12^th, 2003, 3:43pm

no schitzophrenia here.. tho.....

Honest

Tina - Woobie - Brownie - Woobster - Tee [smiley=crackup.gif]

Title: Re: CHs and psychosomatic disorders
Post by forgetfulnot on Nov 12^th, 2003, 4:18pm

Quote:

I am talking about the full-blown mental diseases of the mind. Is there a correlation?

I don't think that you can suffer from C/H and not be depressed, doe's that qualify as full-blown mental disease? Maybe.

Lee

Title: Re: CHs and psychosomatic disorders
Post by Lori on Nov 12^th, 2003, 5:08pm

I wonder also. Maybe not full-blown mental illness, I'd just wonder how many folks that have CH also suffer from some form of a mental disorder. I actually questioned this one before. I think we might find (if we did a survey) that the stats might be on the higher end just like the higher stats of smokers/drinkers are among CH'ers. If true, what might that suggest??

Edit: Are we stressed, high strung?? What? Just thinking outloud again today. :)

Title: Re: CHs and psychosomatic disorders
Post by don on Nov 12^th, 2003, 5:20pm

Not to make light of your question but if you really look hard enough you could probably draw a correlation between foot fungus and CH.

CH has to be recognized as an independant diagnosable illness with its own specific diagnostic criteria if we are ever going to get appropriate treatment.

Lots of people have co occuring dis orders but that does not mean that one is a causal of the other.

Title: Re: CHs and psychosomatic disorders
Post by Prense on Nov 12^th, 2003, 7:11pm

The only time I'm depressed is when I get low on trex, the trex didn't work or I mistakenly stuck the damn thing in my eye! ;;D

Title: Re: CHs and psychosomatic disorders
Post by Bob_Johnson on Nov 13^th, 2003, 7:32am

No association, it appears. There have been a few studies using standard diagnostic/personality tests with cluster folks and the results do not show any general picture of mental health problems and cluster.

There have been recurring threads here about anxiety and depression associated with cluster. Often, this is a chicken-and-egg question unless a careful history is available. My suspicion is that these two problems develop after a long history of cluster. However, it's also common for people with a history of depression and anxiety to report higher levels of suffering/pain than people who do not have these conditons.

All this is by way of saying: this is a very complex question with the interaction between a physical illness and emotional states being hard to tease out.

Some time ago I wrote a piece for OUCH on how to use cognitive therapy to help reduce suffering from cluster. It has disappeared from OUCH and it's too long to be posted on this board. If you want a copy, send me a private message by clicking on my name.

Title: Re: CHs and psychosomatic disorders
Post by HypnoticFreddy on Nov 13^th, 2003, 9:14am

I appreciate the replies.

I have had two episodes in my life of severe, early-morning awakening, classic severe clinical depression. OCD and massive anxiety were either triggers or were happening at the same time.

I did not have clusterheadaches until I had one episode of the above.

It just seems to me that there is some dysfunction of the brain going on with CHs, as well as with depression, etc.

I know I have a genetic disposition for mental illness. On my Moms side of the family, my grandmother was out of this world nuts. She was hospitalized three different times in the 50's-60's for severe mental illness.
When I knew her, she was.......well.......NUTZ. All she did was talk about Ronald Reagan getting his eye shot out on the beach. She was completely out of touch with reality. Not that important for this forum.

Interestingly, no one in my family has ever suffered from CHs (to my knowledge).

How about seizures? Have any of you had a seizure? In 1993 I had a grand mal seizure that was precipitated from a machine called the SuperMind. This machine has a pair of sunglasses with small red lights on the inside lenses. The lights flash at an extremely high frequency and cause changes in the brains alpha waves. Well.....it sure changed mine. I ended up on the floor, and luckily a good friend was there.

I have never had a seizure since. The doctors conclusion was that I had a low seizure threshold and stay away from blinking lights. Weird eh?

I guess from the replies, there doesn't seem to be any correlation. Thanks.

-HypnoticFreddy

Title: Re: CHs and psychosomatic disorders
Post by floridian on Nov 13^th, 2003, 10:57am

I think that CH involves disrupted serotonin, and at a minimum, this increases the risk of conditions like anxiety/panic, OCD, depression, etc. Not everyone here has these problems, but the fact that many do isn't a co-incidence.

Quote:

Neurology. 1999 Aug 11;53(3):543-7. Cluster headaches: association with anxiety disorders and memory deficits. Jorge RE, Leston JE, Arndt S, Robinson RG. Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics, Iowa City 52242-1057, USA.

CONCLUSIONS: When compared with a group of patients with TH (tension headache), ECH (episodic cluster headache) patients showed a higher frequency of anxiety disorders during the year before the onset of headaches and significantly greater HARS scores during the episode. In addition, patients with ECH were selectively impaired in verbal memory.

My anxiety is often off the charts, but my verbal memory is only impaired when my wife talks about the honey-do list. ;;D

Quote:

Headache. 1992 Mar;32(3):119-25. Episodic cluster headache. I: Personality and some neuropsychological characteristics in male patients. Levi R, Edman GV, Ekbom K, Waldenlind E. Department of Neurology, Soder Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.

...
As compared to controls, the cluster headache patients were significantly more anxiety-prone (higher scores in the KSP Somatic anxiety and Muscular tension subscales), less successfully socialized (low scores in the KSP Socialization scale), and had a more hostile attitude towards others (higher scores in the HALTAM Hostility scale)...