title: Migraine and metaphor.
abstract: The metaphors of migraine make it a challenging source of inspiration for writers of fiction. The visual aura is a hallucination, the outside world - the so-called 'reality' - is distorted. The excruciating pain can stand for horror, punishment, and fate. Photophobia, phonophobia, and osmophobia underline visual, acoustic, and olfactoric stimuli. The protagonist sees, hears, and smells more, but not always better. Paradoxically, this increased awareness of 'reality' results in a need to seek isolation. Often, the end of a migraine attack is like a rescue. Immediately after an attack the fear of the next one begins. As migraine is hereditary, there are also aspects of solidarity, but shame and blame are nearby.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Rijnland Hospital and Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiderdorp/Leiden, The Netherlands. jhaan@rijnland.nl
authors.forename: Joost
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Haan
mesh_terms: D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008091:Literature / Q000266:history; D019365:Metaphor; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000266:history / Q000503:physiopathology