UHAM013

x PREFACE have edited them lightly, where necessary, but they remain largely as they were written. My profound thanks are extended to those people who provided these fascinating insights. For a host of reasons they will remain anonymous; however, they were asked to adopt a pseudonym of their own choosing, and their ages are correct.

One notę is necessary on terminology. As far as possible I have retained the common medical terminology throughout this book, with explanations where necessary. I would rather do this than use terms that a person might then repeat to his or her doctor, only to create confusion. Similarly, I want people to be able to understand what their doctor says to them about their headaches. There is a special word for a person who experiences migraines, namely migraineur (bear in mind that when you are surę you are talking about a woman then, strictly speaking, this should be migraineuse). I have adopted this freąuently throughout. To my knowledge, there is no single word for a person who has headaches.

As a psychologist, my main professional interest is in understanding the naturę of the interaction between the mind and the body. We speak of ‘psy-chogenic’ phenomena: those things that are created by the mind. In the early stages of researching and writing this book, I was aware that I was fortunate enough never to have experienced a migraine. I say fortunate, but in some ways experience is everything. However, within months of beginning to write this book an event occurred which is relevant to recount here. One morning, while getting ready for work, I noticed a blotch of light in the right-hand side of my visual field. It grew, becoming morę and morę like a zig-zag arc of scintillating light, rainbow coloured, which slowly moved further and further across to the right, until it eventually disappeared after around 15 minutes. It was a classic pre-migrainal sign, of course. Thankfully, I did not develop a migraine. Thankfully also, I knew enough to be calm about this, rather than afraid. Some people would say that this was entirely imagined by me, but it certainly felt real. It has sińce happened two or three times, and a pattern has begun to emerge: an each occasion I was in a period of considerable stress. In fact, ironically, the work on this book contributed to that stress. Perhaps the aura was a warning sign to take things a little easier. I regard myself as very lucky to have had those signs, because they have helped me to understand migraines a little bit morę and have helped me to put my work and stress into perspective. However, I am aware of the vast difference between what I have experienced and the ‘heli’ through which many migraineurs, and those people subject to chronic or cluster headaches, have to live. I am in awe of their courage.