A recent headline in the news caught my eye. The Conservative MP Dehenna Davison had left her job as the Levelling Up Minister, she said “chronic migraines” have made it “impossible” to do her job.
This led me to her Social Media post. Now I am fully aware of the modern Trolling culture especially around Politicians – however I thought I would share with you a sample of the comments:
“Honestly you resign because you have a headache?”
“Absolute chancer”
“Another Tory deserts a sinking ship. Why? She got (sic) headache!”
I have myself suffered with Aural Migraines for years. For anyone that themselves suffer with Migraines or have friends or relatives who suffer will know Migraines are FAR from ‘Headaches’!
I suffer from
- visual disturbances (flashing lights or limited vision in areas),
- it affects my speech or speech perception,
- pins and needles in my hands and arms,
- sensitivity to light and sound,
- nausea,
- exhaustion (usually for days after),
- general weakness,
- And sometimes – but only sometimes the ‘headache’. Now by headache I can honestly say that the pain on some occasions has reduced me to tears.
To add insult to injury with all of this I have also developed as I have got older ‘clusters’ of these which can affect me daily for a week or so – not recommended!!
Forget Dot Cotton and her ‘Meeegraines’!
Migraines are debilitating – FACT!
I have been very lucky in my life and career to date, that I have met some wonderful people who have understood perfectly my struggles – but I wonder also how many eye rolls there have been that I didn’t see or how many ‘headache’ comments I didn’t hear?
I also saw in the comment thread mentioned earlier plentiful comments explaining to the less open minded the reality of Migraines and this was heart warming!
The Migraine Trust released an article in September 2023 – Stigma of migraine being ‘just a headache’ leading to thousands being dismissed and struggling without care. You can read the full article at: https://migrainetrust.org/news/stigma-of-migraine-leading-to-thousands-struggling-without-care/
Now this also got me to thinking about other ‘stigmatised illnesses’ otherwise known as ‘invisible illnesses’ such as:
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
- Lupus
- Fibromyalgia
- Crohn’s Disease
The list goes on, and as this is intended as a short blog I cant list them all – but that in itself is illustrative! I also read that, similarly to my own story, it is also often the delay in diagnosis and resulting treatment which is the issue.
There was also the story in the news recently where £37k was awarded to office manager Karen Farquharson who was told: ‘Everybody gets menopause – just get on with it’. There is also to be another Tribunal with Leicester Council regarding an employee receiving a formal warning following periods of long term sick: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/our-work/news/equality-watchdog-supports-important-tribunal-hearing-alleged-menopause-discrimination. We are straying towards Employment law here and that isn’t my expertise at all, but it is important that businesses understand their responsibilities regarding Equality, Discrimination and Disability.
I wrote in an earlier Blog about Mental Health and the Stigma surrounding those issues, and in searching the internet for this Blog largely the search results came back with Mental Health illnesses (not of course precluding the knock on mental health affects caused by other ‘stigmatised illnesses’.) – this is great – but are we also missing the point with other illnesses? I am sure that there are hundreds if not thousands of conditions which are stigmatised and need the light shining upon them similarly?
So what can we do in the workplace?
Knowledge is power! Occupation Health or similar questionnaires can be used to gain information and insight into an employees condition, is there anything we can reasonably do to make life easier, prevent onsets, awareness of medications?? etc etc
Awareness and empathy. If your employees are anything like me they will be more than willing to ‘bang the drum’ and tell you all about the realities and practicalities of their condition! Otherwise doing your own research. There are numerous charities and organisations with plentiful information which can help us to understand.
I will reiterate a point I make a lot in ‘Health and Safety’ management – we see the obvious, the big scary machines, the risks of the fall down the drop below – BUT are we so good at the H bit? The Health? Can we keep people healthier and happier in the workplace?
As I said I have included a link to the Migraine Trust above but there are literally hundreds of links to similar trusts for different illnesses and conditions and I couldn’t possibly list them all. Look for Bonafede charities or organisations which can give you the correct, most up to date information. There are also Occupational Health organisations around the country that will be able to assist you in managing an employees health.