June: Headache and Migraine Awareness Month

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Most people experience only occasional headaches, these are often tension headaches and are caused by stress, dehydration, or fatigue. These can be uncomfortable, but they rarely disrupt daily life in a meaningful way.

For others, however, headaches and migraines profoundly affect quality of life. A systematic review by Giakas, Mangold et al., (2023) found that suicide risk increased by 3 fold.

Imagine trying to stand and suddenly losing your balance. Imagine the words on a page blurring when you attempt to focus. Imagine the sound of a lawnmower feeling like your brain is splitting in two, or a rainstorm making it impossible to think. Imagine planning your days around the possibility of cancelling everything to stay in bed—while medication offers little or no relief.

Now imagine this not as an isolated episode, but as a day‑to‑day reality. For many, this reality begins in adulthood, after they have already known life without pain.

Research progress is being made, and organizations, such as the World Health Organization has endorsed the need for more work to better understand and advocate for headache conditions, but there is still a long way to go.

Within Canada, approximately one in three people living with migraines report missing one to three weeks of work each year solely because of their condition (Migraine Canada, 2026). And this does not include those affected by other debilitating headache disorders such as Trigeminal Autonomic Cephalalgias or post‑concussive syndrome and the profound impact that headaches have upon employment and quality of life that these people face.

We need research, policy change, programming, and targeted interventions to address headaches and migraines. Awareness, such as the month of June, is only the first step.