Did you know that more than a billion people in the world suffer from migraine? In fact, in the US alone about 10.4 workdays on average per year are lost by individual migraine sufferers.
To make things more complicated, a large percentage of sufferers don’t even know they have the disease, which can make life extra difficult when interacting with other people – especially in the workplace.
This issue is tackled in episode 5 of Gulf News’ ‘Mind Your Migraine‘ vodcast, hosted by Dr. Deeb Kayed, Consultant Neurologist and Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor, MBRU School of Medicine, in discussion with patient.
As someone who has suffered from migraine at work for years and not wanted to rock the boat, She asks Dr. Deeb what advice he would give to employers to support team members with the disease.
The doctor says that education is key, and that if firms can sensitise staff on what co-workers with migraine may be going through, the outcome can be positive for everyone.
“Many studies have been undertaken that have shown that when big companies have instituted such methods as simple education, lunches, and webinars… absenteeism and presenteeism has reduced,” reveals the doctor. Presenteeism is when a person actually goes to work but cannot perform as well as they should. A situation many long-time migraine sufferers will know all too well.
