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Cephalalgiaphobia: a possible specific phobia of illness

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  • Open Access
  • Published: 19 February 2007
  • volume 8, pages 56–59 (2007)
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Cephalalgiaphobia: a possible specific phobia of illness
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  • M. F. P. Peres1,4,
  • J. P. P. Mercante1,
  • V. Z. Guendler1,
  • F. Corchs2,
  • M. A. Bernik2,
  • E. Zukerman1 &
  • …
  • S. D. Silberstein3 
  • 1009 Accesses

  • 56 Citations

  • 7 Altmetric

  • 1 Mention

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  • Cite this article

Abstract

Psychiatric comorbidity, mainly anxiety and depression, are common in chronic migraine (CM). Phobias are reported by half of CM patients. Phobic avoidance associated with fear of headache or migraine attack has never been adequately described. We describe 12 migraine patients with particular phobic-avoidant behaviours related to their headache attacks, which we classified as a specific illness phobia, coined as cephalalgiaphobia. All patients were women, mean age 42, and all had a migraine diagnosis (11 CM, all overused acute medications). Patients had either a phobia of a headache attack during a pain-free state or a phobia of pain worsening during mild headache episodes. Patients overused acute medication as phobic avoidance. It is a significant problem, associated with distress and impairment, interfering with medical care. Cephalalgiaphobia is a possible specific phobia of illness, possibly linked to progression of migraine to CM and to acute medication overuse headache.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Israelita de Ensino e Pesquisa, Albert Einstein, São Paulo, Brazil

    M. F. P. Peres, J. P. P. Mercante, V. Z. Guendler & E. Zukerman

  2. Institute of Psychiatry, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    F. Corchs & M. A. Bernik

  3. Jefferson Headache Center, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    S. D. Silberstein

  4. Al. Joaquim Eugenio de Lima, 881 cj 708, 01403-001, São Paulo SP, Brazil

    M. F. P. Peres

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  1. M. F. P. Peres
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  2. J. P. P. Mercante
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  3. V. Z. Guendler
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  4. F. Corchs
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  5. M. A. Bernik
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  6. E. Zukerman
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  7. S. D. Silberstein
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. F. P. Peres.

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Open Access This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0 ), which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.

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Cite this article

Peres, M.F.P., Mercante, J.P.P., Guendler, V.Z. et al. Cephalalgiaphobia: a possible specific phobia of illness. J Headache Pain 8, 56–59 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10194-007-0361-3

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  • Received: 18 November 2006

  • Accepted: 15 January 2007

  • Published: 19 February 2007

  • Issue Date: February 2007

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10194-007-0361-3

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Key words

  • Phobia
  • Migraine
  • Anxiety disorders
  • Illness phobia
  • Comorbidity

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