A significant barrier to achieving workplace gender equality in Australia is a lack of support for people living with migraine, new research has revealed.
Commissioned by Migraine & Headache Australia, the findings show that almost three quarters of people impacted by migraine are women. And most (64 per cent) of Australian workplaces are failing to adequately support them.
Australian women living with migraine often face the burden of stigma and discrimination, leading to 1 in 4 having left jobs due to lack of support.
Additionally, 38 per cent of those living with frequent migraine– when symptoms last 11 days or more per month– have done the same.
These research findings have been launched ahead of Migraine & Headache Awareness Week 2023 (4-8 September), with the organisation calling for large employers and the Australian Government to implement an awareness and educational workplace program to reduce the burden of migraine in the workplace. This is meant to lower the economic impact caused by migraine-related productivity loss, with a particular focus on women.
While migraine is a debilitating neurological disorder affecting 4.9 million Australians, it remains underdiagnosed, undertreated and misunderstood, according to a 2018 Deloitte Access Economics Report.
Migraine & Headache Australia’s research shows many Australians believe migraine is simply a “bad headache”, as almost 1 in 4 (23 per cent) non-migraine sufferers believe that migraine is used as an excuse to get out of work.
Along with this, Migraine at Work has research showing 4 out of 5 managers don’t think migraine is a serious enough reason to take time off work.
The condition takes its toll on nearly every part of a person’s life, with more outside research showing those with migraine to be up to five times more likely to experience poor mental health.
Sydney-based neurologist Dr Katherine Spira lives with migraine herself and understands the pain when many of her migraine patients report feeling misunderstood and isolated by the stigma of their invisible disease.
“The patients walking through my door often go to work with symptoms far beyond what would cause most people to call in sick,” said Dr Spira, noting her patients’ resilience and high pain tolerance, developed over the years.
“The truth is, most patients get good at hiding their symptoms and what others see is the tip of the iceberg.”
“A lot of my patients who do tell their workplaces are then openly bullied at work,” she says, adding that “the disease is tough enough without the added layer of discrimination – the high rates of anxiety and depression in migraine patients reflects this reality.”
Reinforcing the urgent changes needed in the workplace for women living with migraine, Carl Cincinnato, Director of Migraine and Headache Australia (and someone who lives with migraine himself), said that when people are made to hide their symptoms at work, it has an “immense impact on not just the lives of people living with migraine, but on workplace productivity, female workforce participation and the Australian economy.”
“There are steps that workplaces can take to support staff who suffer from migraine that allow them to better manage their condition,” he says, noting that this, unfortunately, most workplaces aren’t taking those steps.
“There is a great opportunity for us as a country to make work a friendlier and more productive place for the millions of Australians who are impacted by migraine.”