What not to do when having a migraine | Photo by Sasha Wolff

This photo is used in article after article about migraine and it drives me nuts. It is of an actual person having an actual attack, but I don’t think it’s at all a representative image for the disease. Shining a light at my face like that – even with my eyes closed – would be shockingly painful during a migraine attack. Like most migraineurs, I’m extremely light sensitive during an attack.  While there is wide variation in how people experience migraine attacks and even between attacks within a person, this photo ignores one of the most defining features of the disease.