Dr. Walter C. Alvarez and Dr. Harold G. Wolff Describe the Migrainous Woman and All Her Troubles
I can often recognize the migrainous woman
the minute I see her; this is very helpful diagnostically,
because often she is rather sensitive about her handicap.
Most of these women tend to be petite and with nice
(full-breasted) figures. They are usually above average
in intelligence and social charm. They are tense, quick
in understanding and in movement. They are idealistic,
wanting perfection. They want things done fast, and “just so.”
They are unusually sensitive to noises, bright lights,
and unpleasant odors. They faint and fatigue quickly
under strain and excitement. They get so tense over
thinking of doing something that they can get a headache
even before they get started. The outstanding characteristics
of the migrainous woman are her hypersensitiveness
and tendency to worry, to tire easily, to wilt suddenly, to sleep
poorly. The migrainous woman is reluctant to accept
the consequences of maternity and may have a hard
myomatous uterus, a wandering womb. The exciting cause
of the attacks is marital infelicity. Orgasm is seldom attained
and the sex act is accepted as, at best, a reasonable marital
duty. Migrainous women make a mess of their lives
because they customarily waste $10 worth of energy
on a ten-cent problem. The solution lies in talking over her life
problems and in showing her how to live more calmly
and happily because she isn’t tough enough or heartless
enough to get the divorce she craves.
*Text from Alvarez quoted in “Beauty is a Headache” (Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, February 18, 1945) and “Many Women Worry Themselves Sick, Says a Noted Mayo Doctor" (The Atlanta Constitution, September 11, 1949) and papers by both doctors; Wolff is often referred to as the “father of modern headache research.”
the minute I see her; this is very helpful diagnostically,
because often she is rather sensitive about her handicap.
Most of these women tend to be petite and with nice
(full-breasted) figures. They are usually above average
in intelligence and social charm. They are tense, quick
in understanding and in movement. They are idealistic,
wanting perfection. They want things done fast, and “just so.”
They are unusually sensitive to noises, bright lights,
and unpleasant odors. They faint and fatigue quickly
under strain and excitement. They get so tense over
thinking of doing something that they can get a headache
even before they get started. The outstanding characteristics
of the migrainous woman are her hypersensitiveness
and tendency to worry, to tire easily, to wilt suddenly, to sleep
poorly. The migrainous woman is reluctant to accept
the consequences of maternity and may have a hard
myomatous uterus, a wandering womb. The exciting cause
of the attacks is marital infelicity. Orgasm is seldom attained
and the sex act is accepted as, at best, a reasonable marital
duty. Migrainous women make a mess of their lives
because they customarily waste $10 worth of energy
on a ten-cent problem. The solution lies in talking over her life
problems and in showing her how to live more calmly
and happily because she isn’t tough enough or heartless
enough to get the divorce she craves.
*Text from Alvarez quoted in “Beauty is a Headache” (Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, February 18, 1945) and “Many Women Worry Themselves Sick, Says a Noted Mayo Doctor" (The Atlanta Constitution, September 11, 1949) and papers by both doctors; Wolff is often referred to as the “father of modern headache research.”
Jan / Feb 2024
Therese Gleason (she/her) is author of three chapbooks: Hemicrania (forthcoming, Chestnut Review, 2024), Matrilineal (Honorable Mention, 2022 Jean Pedrick Chapbook Prize, New England Poetry Club), and Libation (co-winner, 2006 South Carolina Poetry Initiative Competition). Her poems and essays appear in 32 Poems, Indiana Review, New Ohio Review, Notre Dame Review, Rattle, and elsewhere. Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, she teaches English language and literacy to multilingual learners in the Worcester Public Schools, and is an adjunct creative writing instructor at Clark University. Migraine has affected five generations along her maternal line, from her great-grandmother to her daughters.
Art: Donna Morello, Collage