Like 30 million other Americans, former presidential hopeful and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann suffers from migraine headaches. But in 2011, a brewing controversy about her headaches cast doubt on her ability to serve — and for many, this was just another example of the stigma often attached to migraines.

After the Web site published a story that claimed that Bachmann was hospitalized three times for "debilitating headache episodes" that she controls with a "significant amount of medication," Bachmann released a statement saying that her migraines have no effect on her ability to function.

In fact, migraineurs (people who have migraine headaches) must often deal with such misconceptions about their condition. And because women get migraines three times more often than men, one of the most common migraine myths is that the condition is a "woman's complaint," and that migraineurs overreact to their pain, and are really depressed or even neurotic.

But migraines have little to do with being depressed or overly sensitive. "Migraine headaches are not caused by stress or depression," says Robert Daroff, MD, professor of neurology at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine in Cleveland and past president of the American Headache Society. "Stress or depression may make migraine headaches worse, but migraineurs would still have their headaches with or without stress or depression."

Migraines are a neurological condition that is thought to occur when blood vessels in the brain expand, which releases chemicals that can cause inflammation and often excruciating pain. Nausea and vomiting commonly follow, as the nervous system responds to the pain.

Migraine Fact and Fiction

"Migraine headaches are frequently misdiagnosed as sinus headaches or tension headaches, but migraine is a very specific condition," explains Dr. Daroff. To be a true migraine headache, migraine patients must experience two of these four characteristics:

  • Headache pain is one-sided
  • Pain is pulsating
  • Pain increases with activity
  • Pain is severe

"In addition to these four characteristics, a migraine headache must be accompanied by nausea or be made worse by noise or light," adds Daroff. Other differences between migraine headaches and other headaches are duration (migraine pain can last for up to 72 hours or even longer) and what's known as “aura” — a combination of warning symptoms, including flashing lights and colors, that precede the migraine.

Migraines are much more common than sinus headaches and are actually under-diagnosed. In fact, about half of all people with migraines have never been properly diagnosed.

Tips to Help Explain Migraines to Others

The best way to get rid of the stigma and misconceptions surrounding migraine headaches is through education. Here are some facts that your friends, family, and co-workers should know:

  • Migraine pain is real: It's caused by chemicals released by brain cells that cause irritation and swelling of blood vessels on the surface of the brain.
  • The severity of migraine pain is often serious enough to require bed rest in a quiet room. But there are treatments, such as certain prescription medications, that can help prevent attacks or ease symptoms when they occur.
  • Migraine auras, or warning signs, may include irritability, fatigue, food cravings, thirst, visual changes, and prickly or burning sensations.
  • Migraine headaches may be triggered by changes in sleep patterns, changes in the weather, certain foods, missing meals, bright lights, loud noises, intense activity, and stress and anxiety.
  • There is no simple test that can tell you if you have migraines. The diagnosis must be made by a headache expert based on your family history (up to 80 percent of migraine patients have a family history) and headache symptoms.
  • Migraines are common in people from age 15 to 55, and can strike as often as once a day to as rarely as once a year.

"If you have frequent, severe headaches and you have been told they are sinus headaches, tension headaches, or headaches without a specific cause, you see a headache specialist to rule out migraines," advises Daroff.

Migraine headaches are more common than most people realize. So, if you or someone you know has migraine symptoms, don't let others' misconceptions add to your pain — tell them that migraine pain is in the brain, not in the mind.