"If we don't end war, war will end us.
" -- H.
G.
Wells The impact of migraine is separable into two parts - pain and suffering.
Pain is biological in nature, while suffering is caused by the meaning that our brains attach to the pain signal.
You can decide to alter that meaning, and your quality of life will begin to improve.
This article explains the big picture of the shift in meaning along with specific strategies to implement the change.
The best way to handle migraine pain is through medical intervention.
Learning to limit your suffering will help you in your family, social and work lives.
Suffering has been described as "the inability to accept pain".
We have all railed against the latest migraine attack.
We resist, we get angry and we engage in what amounts to an inner war.
"Why me?" & "why now?" are common desperate questions that crowd the mind.
We may catastrophize about the impact of the attack on our career or reputation.
The cumulative effect of migraine episodes may lead to chronic unhappiness or depression.
Our diminished state of mind may make us more susceptible to further episodes.
These negative reactions are unhelpful.
My discovery almost 20 years ago, with which researchers now agree, was that a thought-out response to pain was the better way.
I was tired of fighting and I wanted to "have a life".
The results have indeed been life-changing.
Perhaps you too are tired of fighting automatically and continuously with your migraine pain.
Has it helped you, or has it increased your overall stress level? Your life circumstances are challenging, to be sure.
Has the time come to make the best of your situation and re-build? Making peace and cultivating acceptance - these are the first steps along that road.
I believe that it is in your best interests to accept your pain.
(This doesn't mean you approve of it!) You make a peace treaty with your pain, and then go on.
Nations make peace treaties - as a result they can re-focus to a large degree, and concentrate on constructive tasks rather than warrior activities.
Unimaginable rivals have come to the table in our lifetime - even the Cold War ended.
You have the chance to show the courage in your interior life that Mr.
Gorbachev did in the 1980s.
Now you can go beyond your prior limitations and develop positive strategies to cope with your pain.
Here are some ideas to consider:

1. Develop a plan: when you are having a migraine attack, your creativity is low.
   Make a written list of things beforehand that you can do or say to yourself to help you cope.
   If you have a menu of non-drug interventions such as cold packs or diversionary activities, write them down.
   Or if you have a favourite mantra - like mine, "Tomorrow is another day" - find and repeat it.
   
2. Spiritual approaches: if you are religious, it can help to ask God to help you endure the pain, or you can engage in other practices.
   If you aren't, there are ways to disassociate yourself from the pain experience, to conceive of yourself as almost an observer.
   
3. Pain as learning: ask yourself, after or even during your attack, what might have caused it - was it additional stress of some kind, or have you discovered a new trigger? If you can learn from your pain, you have established a new kind of control over it.
   
4. Pain as a metaphor: I often think of successive migraines as a series of storms which batter my brain.
   Others see the condition as an enemy which must be outwitted.
   These comparisons permit the imagination to develop creative defense tactics.
   For example, storms are temporary, and blue sky always follows; and you can almost always find shelter from the storm.
   Some enemies may seem all-powerful for a time, but we know that human beings survived larger beasts and came to dominate the planet.
   
5. Mindfulness meditation: this is a learned technique based on Buddhism and the recent work of Dr.
   Jon Kabat-Zinn.
   It involves focusing on the sensations of pain in your body in a curious non-judgmental way, being aware of but not attaching meaning to the pain.
   
6. Positive self-feedback: Migraine attacks end, and you get through them.
   If you acknowledge yourself for what you did to self-manage through the pain, you are creating new pathways in your brain that will help you in future attacks.
   

These strategies and others will further de-link migraine pain and suffering.
Soon you will discover opportunities to act which will improve your life at work, at home, and with others.
You can address migraine suffering by separating it from migraine pain.
Fighting migraine pain leads to unnecessary suffering; a shift in your mindset in the direction of acceptance is far more constructive.
As described above, there are many positive strategies that can limit suffering and lead you to greater success in life.