For headache specialists, reducing the disorder to a specific mechanism in the brain doesn’t just relieve the symptoms of migraine [referring to development of Imitrex]; it also targets the stigma associated with it by shifting responsibility for the pain away from a weak or neurotic personality toward a body over which the patient has no control. In this, headache specialists are demonstrating a phenomenon known to cognitive psychologists, namely, that attributing low causal responsibility to stigmatized behaviors reduces blame and produces more positive feelings.

Joanna Kempner in Not Tonight