71% of people suffering from migraine would like to be able to carry out daily activities without pain or limitations (work, study, go out with friends, play, rest, have energy …), as can be seen from a survey elaborated by the Spanish Association of Migraine and headache (AEMICE).
Therefore, the Association launches the campaign ‘Extraordinary Wishes’, coinciding with the International Day of Action Against Migraine, which is held this Friday, September 12, whose information will be available on the web: www.dolordecabeza.net/deseosextraordinary.
It is estimated that in Spain there are five million people affected by this neurological disease, the vast majority being women (eight out of 10 cases). It is characterized by episodes of pain that can last up to three days and that are usually accompanied by other symptoms such as hypersensitivity to light, noise, smells, nausea or aura, among many others. Almost 1.5 million people with migraine suffer more than 15 days of migraine per month (what is known as chronic migraine).
The disease, as emphasized Isabel Colomina, President of AEMICEIt is not just a headache. It is a neurological disease that impacts every corner of life. This has been reflected in the results obtained in the survey conducted to 888 people with migraine in the framework of the ‘Extraordinary Wishes’ campaign of AEMICE; In order to know what these patients would ask for as extraordinary desire, excluding the desire to ‘have no migraine’.
What would they want to do
71 % (627 people) of respondents formulated as an extraordinary desire to be able to carry out daily activities without pain or limitations; While only 10 % (93 people) asked for more generic or social desires, such as winning the lottery, buying a house or health for the whole family. Thus, people who live with migraine have shared their desire to play with their children in the park “without having to go home for pain”, go to the cinema as before “without fear that noise or lights will cause me a crisis” or “to be able to go to work without having to choose between forcing me or giving explanations that nobody understands.” The results, as Colomina emphasize, “show how daily activities that for the majority of the population are normal, for those who live with migraine become an extraordinary desire.”
The objective of the campaign, as explained by the president of the association, is triple. On the one hand, it seeks to raise public awareness of the real impact of migraine beyond physical pain, focusing on the invisible limitations that imposes and how it conditions decisions, moments and relationships. The other great focus is to break the stigma that still surrounds migraine, showing that it is not a simple passing discomfort, but a neurological disease with a high impact on the quality of life.
Finally, as Colomina states, we want to invite understanding: “Show that banalization on many occasions arises from ignorance, and that only with information and empathy can we build a society that accompanies, listen and respect those who suffer it.”
