Chronic headaches, particularly migraines and those that are disabling, in conjunction with severe somatic symptoms –physical symptoms of a psychological origin rather than a physical source — greatly increase the risk of major depressive disorder in women, according to a report in the medical journal Neurology.

“The literature on chronic headaches and depression is fairly robust.

A number of studies have shown that headache patients are predisposed to depression,” lead author Dr. Gretchen E. Tietjen, from the University of Toledo-Health Science Campus in Ohio, told Reuters. “The novelty of our study was the inclusion of somatic symptoms, which was only previously investigated in one small study.”

The results suggest that “chronic headache, disabling headache, and severe somatic symptoms work synergistically to increase the risk of depression,” Tietjen said.

CNN.com