Most people think this common symptom is unrelated to depression.
Morning headaches are a common sign of depression and anxiety, research finds.
People naturally assume that morning headaches are related to poor sleep.
While they often are, poor sleep is not the only cause.
The survey of 18,980 people found that the most significant factors linked to chronic morning headaches were anxiety and depression problems.
Dr Maurice M. Ohayon, the study’s author, said:
“Morning headache affects one individual in 13 in the general population.
Chronic morning headaches are a good indicator of major depressive disorders and insomnia disorders.
Contrary to what was previously suggested, however, they are not specific to sleep-related breathing disorder.”
Depression, anxiety and poor sleep were not the only predictors of morning headaches, though.
Dr Ohayon writes that drinking, high blood pressure and various sleep disorders were also linked to morning headaches:
“We also found a positive association between heavy drinking—at least 6 alcoholic drinks per day—and morning headaches, and between the use of an anxiolytic medication and morning headaches.
Subjects using these psychoactive substances were twice as likely to report morning headaches.
Among organic disorders, we found that subjects with hypertension or musculoskeletal diseases had a higher risk of reporting morning headaches.
Changes in blood pressure are likely to cause headaches.
Among sleep disorders, dyssomnia not otherwise specified, which included restless legs syndrome, periodic limb movement disorder, and sleep disorders with multiple possible causes, had the highest association with morning headaches.”
Related
- Signs of Depression: 10 Common Symptoms You Should Know
The study was published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine (Ohayon et al., 2004).
