The stigma of migraine and society’s perception of illness, as well as the internal voice that judges me during a migraine attack have all been swirling around in my mind lately. The topics came together in Internalizing the Stigma of Migraine, which quickly became my most popular post on Migraine.com. I’m both saddened by the number of people who identify with this experience and honored that I can give voice to the torrent of emotions that accompany migraine.
Here’s a short excerpt from Internalizing the Stigma of Migraine:
I have to wonder if I and so many other migraineurs berate ourselves not only because other people regularly distrust that migraine is a true physical illness, but because we have internalized those same doubts.
This is where the stigma of migraine is especially damaging. Dealing with people who don’t understand — and don’t seem to want to understand — what we’re going through is frustrating and infuriating. Believing it ourselves is way more harmful because it demoralizes us and causes us to question the legitimacy of our own experience.