Over a billion people live with migraine worldwide, across all cultures, world regions and socioeconomic statuses, including over 700,000 in Ireland based on the current population. It is the 2nd leading cause of disability worldwide and accounts for more disability than any other neurological disorder, according to the Lancet Burden of Disease Study 2016.1 Migraine and other headache disorders are estimated by WHO to be the second leading cause of years lived with disability worldwide, the first for women under fifty years of age.2 A migraine attack is considered to be one of the most disabling experiences that a human being can have.3
It is believed that only a small percentage of individuals living with headache disorders ever come forward to receive care, making it largely a silent and invisible illness. Patients who live with headache disorders are recognised as being a heavily stigmatised and misunderstood group, perhaps the most stigmatised patient group of all (Shapiro et at 2024,4) It has historically been chronically under-researched, underfunded, misunderstood, minimised and dismissed across broader society, within healthcare and within patients themselves through internalised stigma. Stigmatisation itself is recognised as a driver in the chronic underfunding and under-researching of headache care. The experience of stigma has been shown to play a significant role in the exacerbation of chronic pain.5
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