Migraine Headaches:: Stories of Searching for Help

Migraines Migraine is a social illness, difficult to live through without involving others because it affects socially prescribed roles. The wider the circle of contacts and responsibilities, the more potential for impact on relationships and social roles. Looking in the opposite direction, the social narratives of culture, institutions, and families that surround the individual often dictate how illness is viewed and how migraine is viewed and treated. The women's stories in this book reveal the personal side of migraines, the moments of pain and despair rarely seen. These women experienced the loneliness of suffering, the alienation of stigma and labeling, the fear of uncertainty, and the burden of chronicity. It is evident that family experience with migraines can be helpful to nurses in their work with women with migraines at both an evidence based and an intuitive level and in understanding the larger social issues that influence formal policies and procedures. The evocative nature of the representations in this book illuminate the dynamics of nurse/person interactions and the importance of the ethics of how our society cares for our vulnerable members.