Abstract

Cephalalgiaphobia is fear of headache, or fear of the next headache. It is derived from "cephalalgia" and "phobia". The term is used for patients that are fearful of headache pain, or even exhibiting pain-panic. Cephalgiaphobia is a psychological state and has been linked to producing and also continuing the overuse of medication. "Pain-panic" situation is described as a significant and uncontrolled fear over anticipated painful events, which can prompt excessive and obsessive drug-taking behavior and, ultimately, medication overuse. The medication overuse may turn, in turn, itself be the cause medication overuse headache. The term cephalgiaphobia was coined by Dr. Harvey Featherstone in the mid-1980s