[Psychosomatic therapies in primary headaches].

Many previous studies have reported that primary headaches such as tension-type headache and migraine are influenced by psychosocial factors including stressful life events and daily hassles. In addition, noncompliance and nonadherence with medical regimens represent a major challenge to the treatment of primary headaches including medication-overuse headache. Therefore, non-pharmacological therapies such as relaxation, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and biofeedback have become important and their efficacy has been reported. In the present review, I would like to introduce the importance of psychosocial factors in primary headaches and psychosomatic therapies by reviewing previous studies on the association between psychosocial factors and primary headaches and on the efficacy of non-pharmacological therapies and by showing a representative case.