How to Help Someone With Migraine
You don’t know what it is like. You don’t have the aching or the throbbing. You have not experienced the nausea or the visual disturbances. Really, you barely ever even get headaches so understanding what your loved one is going through with their migraines is a challenging task.
Naturally, you want to help. You want to do what is best for them, but you’re not quite sure what to do. Sometimes you do something and your loved one is very appreciative and grateful. Other times, you can do the exact same thing and get a completely different result. You’re left scratching your head, powerless and frustrated. Your loved one is left with continued pain that you cannot alleviate.
The question is: what can you do to help? The truth is that there are many things that benefit people with migraines. At times though, the way you delivery the remedy can be just as helpful as the remedy itself.
Empathy versus Sympathy
When therapists go to school to become therapists, a vital lesson they learn is the difference between empathy and sympathy. If you love and support someone with migraines, knowing the difference will help you as well. Sympathy is a good place to begin since most people are familiar with this one. When you look up sympathy’s definition, you will see many variations, but the one that applies here is “support in the form of shared feelings.” This means that when someone feels something you sympathize with them by feeling the same way they do. When someone is happy, you feel their happiness. When someone is sad, you feel their sadness. This connection allows you to understand them better. At the same time, they will feel validated that someone is acknowledging their feelings.
Empathy shares similar themes with a slight variation. Rather than feeling what someone else is feeling, empathy means that you understand what they are feeling and why they are feeling that way. Empathy is the idea of walking a mile in their shoes. It is knowing and accepting the other’s point of view.
Which one do you think therapists are trained in? Which one do you think you should employ when dealing with your loved one’s migraines? The good news is that empathy is the answer to both questions. The main reason for this is that sympathy is only useful in small doses. If there is a death or sickness that someone you know is dealing with, being sympathetic is reasonable and expected. This can last for a few hours or a few days and you can return to normal functioning.
One problem with sympathy is that it is incredibly draining on you as the sympathetic person. Prolonged use of sympathy will always lead to burnout. In burnout, the caretaker will experience decreased motivation to care for the loved one, increased irritability and higher levels of exhaustion. Burnout is common is professional caretakers and something that should be avoided at all costs. It is very difficult to recover from burnout.
The second problem with sympathy is that it is not as helpful to your loved one as empathy. The reason for this is that the strong emotional connection you have will skew and distort your perceptions and judgments of the situation. Without objectivity and rationality, you will be more likely to behave in ways that are based on immediate gratification rather than long-term benefit of your loved one. This style only creates more problems in the future.
The best way to build and maintain empathy is by monitoring your thoughts, feelings and behaviors while seeking feedback from other trusted sources. If you notice that you are dreading spending time with your loved one with migraines, if other areas of your life are being impacted negatively or if you are feeling more depressed and helpless, you may be headed for burnout. Working to establish solid boundaries will help keep you in an empathic mode. Decide how far you are willing to go, and what lines you are not willing to cross.
Next Page: how to help and how to hurt.
