Creative People with Headaches and Stomach Aches

7/19/2022

Part of my regular screening to understand the scope of my new Creative Client’s problems is to ask them about headaches and stomach aches. I even regularly touch base with local gastroenterologist offices and nearby neurologists to offer my services, and to connect with good providers of these services around me, to send my own clients to. Headaches and stomach aches are common symptoms amongst Creative People!

Headaches and Creative People

There is a lot of crossover in what people have been diagnosed with in the past, what has brought them into my office, and what can actually be strengths of their Creative Personalities. A regular example of this is the crossover of ADHD features to Creative Personality features. In fact, many, if not most, Creative People have features that are neurodivergent, and most people with ADHD that are also Creative are able to stick to and execute plans they are passionate about, better (Boot, Nevicka, and Baas, 2020). As there are dualities in all things, this beneficial feature has a risk of detrimental hyperfocus, and oftentimes physically I see this in Creative People as a migraine.
The picture I often give is of a computer with too many tabs open, a fan unable to cool it down, either freezing itself or forcing itself to shut down. Our brain is also, electrical. A migraine may be a natural, organismic reaction to enthusiasm or otherwise driven overdoing.

Picture of a working artist in her chair with a paint palette holding the bridge of her nose with a headache. Creative people in Maryland and Virginia can get help with a creativity coach or creativity counseling here.

Headaches and Creative Personalities

There was a study by Gerhard and Huber (2003) that researched personality traits and stress sensitivity in migraine patients. They also established a link between migraine severity and length and the personality trait of secondary neuroticism and increased sensitivity to stress. In other words, quick arousal when stimulated especially along the axes of anxiety and depression symptoms, and the slow resolution of these symptoms once aroused, was associated with higher migraine intensity.
If these traits sound familiar to you, they should. They are aligned with the higher sensory capacity that Creative People feel. Especially those Creative People who are HSPs. You are in touch with the way your body feels with a very sensitive threshold- and this study reaffirms this information with a creative personality trait and migraines.

Stomach Aches and Creative People

Picture of a black male artist in a wheelchair holding his stomach and looking like he is in pain. Creative people in Maryland and Virginia can get help with a creativity coach based in Richmond, VA or creativity counseling near Baltimore, MD here.

From the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, “Researchers have identified a powerful connection between the gut and the brain. Like the brain, the gut is full of nerves. It contains the largest area of nerves outside the brain with the digestive tract and the brain sharing many of the same nerve connections.” This article continues to explore the impact of emotions on the stomach and digestion, including long-term conditions and diseases.
We know creative people have powerful emotions, and that emotions are expressed in the body. It follows, then, that the expression of these emotions often impact the stomachs of creative people. This is why I regularly reverse engineer my search by looking for powerful emotional expression by asking about chronic stomach aches.

Conclusions about Headaches and Stomach Aches in Creative People

Understanding your body and its rhythms is a vital part of caring for your Creative Personality well. When you learn the links between your Creative Personality and the way your body reacts to and experiences life, you feel more empowered to take care of yourself well. Creative Personalities are powerful and manifest themselves in many powerful ways. It is important to educate yourself and learn for yourself how your Creative Personality presents itself in your own life. When you support and nurture yourself well as a Creative Person, you will truly flourish.

Picture of a person holding their phone over their laptop, with colorful pens and a plant in the background. Creative people in Maryland and Virginia can get help with a creativity coach near Baltimore, MD or creativity counseling based in Richmond, VA here.

Learn More About Support for Creative People in Maryland, Virginia, and Beyond

If you are interested in real, impactful, and lasting life change for your creative mind, I would love to help you. Let's connect and launch your life to the next level! I have three steps you can take, right now from my site if you are ready to move forward in your life:
1) Book a Free Consultation. All new clients to Creatively, LLC are entitled to a 15 min, free creativity coaching or counseling consultation to sit with me and discuss your needs, services available, and we can problem solve and hand-pick the best next steps to help you succeed.
2) Begin Counseling for the Modern Day Creative Person. Are you a working Creative in need of specific support? I offer a range of Counseling Services so you can select exactly what you need, and nothing that you don't. Creativity Counseling offers 30 min sessions to 60-minute sessions, as well as asynchronous support.
3) Join my Artists in Residency Program. This is a Free, Online Community of Artists where you can build support, accountability, and a network of Creative People as a stepping stone towards reconnecting and committing to your authentic, creative self.