So many of my patients who suffer from migraines will also have a mental health diagnosis, i.e. depression, anxiety, PTSD, BiPolar, etc. Also, when patients come into the hospital with suspicion of stroke, I will ask if they have been under stress lately and 100% of the time I get a resounding Yes. This yes comes from both the patient and whichever family member is present during the admission process. This is the same for cardiac admission such as heart attack, elevated blood pressure, chest pain. I have not gotten into the habit of asking this question about my abdominal pain patients, but I am wondering if I should start. I bet there is also a correlation between the two.

Stress does not show up without its consequences. It releases a ton of cortisone into the body. Our bodies are not designed to live under stress at all times. Our stress response was meant to just be temporary. It was meant to kick in for fight or flight to keep us safe from animals that wanted to eat us and then the threat was gone. Society has become such that some of us live in fight or flight all of the time.

On the other side of this coin, my mental health tends to do better when I am physically caring for my body. These are the times when I am exercising and watching what I am eating. Exercise will give short bursts of cortisone, which is what out bodies were meant to experience.

I am not going to dig too far into this because we can get way into the weeds on this topic. I just want everyone to know that there is a real connection, it is not just in the head.