For someone suffering from mild depression, what can I do to stop my constant headaches without relying on painkillers?

Doctor's Answer

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Dr Paul Ang

General Practitioner

Thank you for sharing your concerns.

Sounds like you are a young lady with "mild depression" who gets frequent headaches.

Most people can feel like they are at their wit's ends when dealing with such problems. There seem to be infinite treatment and test options.

It can be hard to find a doctor who will give you an opinion on what should the next step be.

But it does sound like your GP cares a lot about you and does give you sound advice.

Perhaps you can go back and check with your GP again. For your information, less than 1% of patients with headache actually turn out to have a "brain tumour" and most of these have nothing to do with the headache. (ie they are accidentally discovered)

You can go back to check with your GP again and perhaps suggest that he/she refer you to see a psychologist for therapy (psychologists do NOT prescribe medications).

Mindfulness and relaxation exercises might help with some headaches and reduce your reliance on medications. There might be no way the headaches can stop for good, but we certainly have good ways to cope with them. Our bodies are complex, the state of the mind affects our feeling of the symptoms greatly. These things can be discussed and the root of the problem can only be found in therapy.

Take care and I hope you find treatment soon.

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