Can depression cause headaches?

Depression is a mood disorder that people frequently associate with feelings of sadness. Still, it can include much more varied symptoms, one of which is aches and pains without underlying physical causes. Symptoms of depression include:

• Feeling sad, hopeless, or worthless
• Irritation and frustration
• Sleep issues like sleeping too little or too much
• Tiredness and fatigue
• Changes in appetite and changes in weight
• Slower than normal thinking and movement
• Feeling guilty
• Problems focusing and remembering things
• Thinking about death and suicidal thoughts
• Unexplained physical problems like headaches

If you have been experiencing any suicidal thoughts, reach out for help immediately. You can reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Depression can cause pain like headaches or other pain that is unexplainable by any underlying physical condition. Tension headaches, thought to be brought on by stress, may also be triggered by depression or other mental health issues. Some research indicates a link between migraine attacks and migraine headache disorder and depression, with half of the people with migraines reporting that they also experience depression.

Whether a headache is triggered by depression or depression is caused by a headache can be hard to determine. Headaches caused by muscle tension that occurs as a result of stress may also cause symptoms of depression. Headaches feel different for each person but are often reported as including some of these symptoms:

• Sharp or shooting pains in the head
• Pain that moves from area to area of the head
• Throbbing or pulsating pain
• A long-lasting dull ache

There are multiple types of headaches, but the two most frequently associated with depression are tension headaches and migraines. Tension headaches are usually accompanied by pain in the neck and develop slowly. The cause of these headaches is thought to be muscle tension that arises from stress or tension.

Migraines usually come on quickly and can last a long time. Along with pain, migraine headaches may involve sensitivity to sound or light, nausea, vomiting, and may interfere with work and other plans. Migraine may often precede depression when a person has migraine headaches.

Treating headaches involves a full physical examination to rule out underlying physical causes, and if depression symptoms are also present, it may involve treating both the depression and the headaches. Medications and talk therapy are often used to treat both headaches and migraines when they are co-occurring.

If you are experiencing headaches and symptoms of depression, talk with your medical doctor about medication options and evaluation of symptoms.