Most people do not take migraine seriously at work, research reveals
Research from The Migraine Trust found that one in four workers with migraine had left or thought about leaving a job due to unsupportive employers.
Research from The Migraine Trust found people with migraine were not taken seriously at work or at home.
As a result, one in four workers with migraine had left or thought about leaving a job due to unsupportive employers.
58% avoided telling their employers or colleagues about their migraine for fear of not being believed or taken seriously.
65% said others often did not believe their symptoms, and 77% said people joked about their condition.
The survey also showed that only 32% of people without migraine correctly identified it as a neurological condition.
60% thought migraine was just ‘a bad headache’ and 66% believed it was caused by ‘stress or anxiety’.
Additionally, 60% of people without migraine agreed migraine was often used as a joke, while 91% of people with migraine had worked through symptoms, often using annual or unpaid leave instead of sick days.
Less than two in five (under 40%) of those without migraine said they would be very likely to believe someone who called in sick, left early or could not finish a task due to migraine.
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