Personality traits and psychological reactions to mental stress of female migraine patients

The purpose of this study was (i) to compare a range of stress-related pers onality traits, including defense and coping mechanisms, of migraine patien ts (n=23) with those of tension headache patients (n=18) and dermatological ly afflicted, but otherwise healthy, controls (n=22), and (ii) to compare t heir state anxiety and other moods before, during, and after the presentati on of a psychological stressor (mental arithmetic). For all three groups, m ental arithmetic induced a significant increase in state anxiety and mood d isturbance, followed by a subsequent decrease during recovery. Migraine pat ients were not found to have a higher disposition for anxiety, depression, or rigidity than tension headache patients or controls. Between the headach e groups no differences in the use of defense and coping mechanisms were fo und. Compared to the control group, however, both migraine patients and ten sion headache patients were more inclined to use internally focused defense mechanisms and less inclined to seek social support when confronted with a problem. The psychological reaction of migraine patients to mental stress hardly differed from tension headache and control subjects. Compared to the control subjects, however, both groups of headache patients exhibited a di minished recovery from feelings of vigour, depression, and fatigue due to t he stress induced. It is suggested that this distinct psychological reactio n to stress of headache patients versus healthy control subjects is related to the more internally focused defense style of the headache sufferers. Th us, in contrast to previous results, this study does not present evidence o f a migraine personality. It suggests the development of specific personali ty characteristics as a consequence of suffering from episodic headache.