Anxiety and Depression in Chronic Headache Patients:Major Concern for Community Mental Health

Many evidences support the anxiety-headache-depression syndrome as a distinct disorder, and also its association with psychiatric illness. This study highlights the importance of prospective research for studying the developmental course and consequences of headache syndromes. The relevant information for the sample of 100 patients was recorded on a Performa designed for this purpose comprising of socio-demographic variables like age, gender and triggering factors. The correlation-coefficient indicated a significant positive relationship between the anxiety and depression in chronic headache patients. These findings implicate high prevalence of anxiety and depression in the general population, and indicate an association between headache and psychological disorders. Also, various psychotherapies should be applied to the headache patients so as to treat them right at the onset level of anxiety and depression.