HEADACHES are one of mankind's most common disorders. Rare indeed is a person who has never had a headache. There are many kinds of headache, thus, many causes. The two kinds of headache most often associated with emotional stress are: tension headache and migraine headaches.

Tension headaches are usually comes at the end of a trying day; There may be a tight, pulling feeling at the back of the head. Or there may be a hand-like pressure around the head that feels like a tight hat. In this type of headache there is the tightness of the muscles of the scalp and neck. This tightness is sometimes relieved by massage, application of heat, etc.

Migraine headaches are often called 'sick headaches'. They usually begin with peculiar tricks of vision such as flashes of light or spots before the eyes. Then a pounding, throbbing pain begins, usually on one side of the head. The pain may last for hours.
The patient may even have to take rest.. Sometime nausea and vomiting may occur, but cheer up, vomiting is always a sign that the headache is going away.

Migraine is due, largely, to disordered supply of blood to the brain. Usually migraine headaches occur during a period of emotional strain. People who become unhappy and do not express themselves by talking to some one about their problems, or even by relieving tension by crying are most prone to have migraine headaches.

According to psychologist Hans Selye, emotional stress affects the adrenal glands. These glands, together with other glands are responsible for regulating many of the body's most important processes. When stress upsets the adrenal function like swelling of the joints, high blood pressure, stomach and duodenal ulcers and migraine headaches and other serious disorders result.

(by sanjaya pandey, The Rising Nepal)