Hidden Headaches in the UK

One in four people keep their headaches a secret to avoid discrimination at work, according to findings of a study released yesterday. Headache UK, an alliance of five headache nonprofits in the UK, conducted a survey of more than 3,000 people who work and have debilitating headaches. Additional results include that 53% of respondents believe that their careers have been hindered by headache and 9% had been disciplined for missing work when they had headaches.

When I was working, my headaches weren’t a secret (I can’t keep anything a secret), but I did downplay how significant the pain was. I took out an overdraft on goodwill from my boss and stayed at that job longer than I should have. And I wonder how many people believed how debilitating my headaches truly were.

Is there a happy medium between laying it all out and being secretive? Is it possible to be a effective employee when you have severe pain? How can we keep ourselves financially afloat when we can barely get out of bed?

Last Updated on July 23, 2013 by Kerrie Smyres