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It's a fascinating topic, but I am also strongly with you on this, Bosco'. I guess people would have to think about whether they have always had the identified traits. (Once after 18 months of severe back pain, my GP sent me to a pain management guy, who was also a psychiatrist. He administered a personality test (Minnesota Multiphasic) that among other things asked about pain frequency, intensity, and expectation of relief. The doc solemnly told me that I seemed to have a predisposition for hypochondria. I am a calm and polite person, but I lost it at that.)

Thanks for posting this @Craigo. Definitely something to chew on. I'm down for the Google Sheet poll. In all fairness though, I have to point out that these studies were conducted "after" the individuals were afflicted with either CH or migraine so I can't help but think that the trait outcomes being listed are skewed because who wouldn't be a bit paranoid, schizoid, depressed and anxious after dealing with a good ol fashioned brain arse kicking? I get that it would be hard to conduct the test prior (say on those with a higher likelihood of developing one or the other) but life changes after CH...

Greetings all, It’s been a hot minute since I last thought about the intersection of personality profiles and CH but a recent literature dive brought it back into focus, unintentionally I might add. I don’t know if you’ve come across a tool called Harzing’s Publish or Perish, it makes searching the scientific literature super easy. Using it I stumbled upon a 2016 paper that struck a chord over the past couple days and I wanted to share it here. I want to say before you read further there was an element of reading this study that was triggering / confronting so I just wanted to make that disclosure - this can be a challenging topic to navigate. Personality traits in patients with cluster headache: a comparison with migraine patients https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4791411/ According to the Salamanca screening test, personality traits included in cluster A (odd or eccentric disorders) are more prevalent in CH patients than in a population of migraineurs. Larger studies are needed to determine whether certain personality traits are related to CH. The study compared 80 CH sufferers (mostly male, average age 43) with 164 migraine patients (mostly female, average age 36). Using the Salamanca screening test, they found the most common traits in the CH group were: Anancastic (52.5%) Anxious (47.5%) Histrionic (45%) Schizoid (42.5%) Impulsive (32.5%) Paranoid (30%) Compared to migraineurs, paranoid and schizoid traits were significantly more common in CH sufferers. According to this screening tool, Cluster A traits (odd or eccentric personalities) appear more common in CH patients than in migraine patients. I was curious enough to simulate the Salamanca test using a language model and, no surprise, I scored highly on the same cluster: anancastic/OCPD, anxiety-related and schizoid traits. I did not score highly in the histrionic traits. Here’s a brief overview of what the 2 of these personality patterns look like that were pertinent for me, starting with anancastic (also known as Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder, which is distinct from OCD). Anancastic was a new term for me, I hadn't heard of it before: Anancastic Traits (OCPD) Preoccupied with rules, structure, and control Perfectionism that interferes with task completion Rigid thinking, especially around morality Workaholic tendencies at the expense of relationships Difficulty delegating due to high standards Hoarding or excessive saving Stubbornness and resistance to change I score fairly solid on that one, lol. I look at the list and recognize a number of things that I consider work-on's in my life, balance between work and social relationships being one of them; real estate is not a great choice for that I must say. Definitely rigid in my thinking around morality, I wish I was an excessive saver(!!!) and I like tradition, I am not fond of change. And then there’s schizoid which frankly the word has a certain connotation to it but putting that aside: Schizoid Traits Strong preference for solitude Emotionally flat or detached Disinterest in close relationships, including family Limited enjoyment from most activities Unmoved by praise or criticism Few or no close friends or confidants The last time I had really delved into the above traits was to explore one of the other topics of my podcast, fatherlessness - Freud wrote about some of these qualities in Mourning and Melancholia. I was surprised to see some of those traits appear in this study. I have often wondered what bearing early parental loss had in the context of my CH, again difficult to explore because the discussion is contextual, there's no hard and fast with such abstract subjects albeit I have little doubt that early life adversity played a part in my journey with CH. Alas, if you’ve ever felt a bit “wired differently” or found it hard to relate to the social world most people seem to navigate with ease, this study suggests you may not be alone. It’s fascinating and maybe even a little validating to see how certain personality traits appear more frequently among cluster headache sufferers. It raises further discussion points. Are these traits a product of the pain, isolation and the unpredictability of CH? Or is there a deeper neurological or biological predisposition at play? My wife also took the test and didn't score for these results. I could setup an anonymized poll via a Google sheet if there was interest - equally interested in your thoughts as always. Craigo.

I also read sometime that we(ch-heads) have a leathery skin and lion manes. i thought that was very funny and it fits like a glove. Just like the above personality traits. I am diagnosed on the autism spectrum the OCPD is just like a description of autistic behavior. And the schizoid thing is just the consequence of having a cluster. And I also have a monobrow. And everyone knows what that means

Interesting indeed. My, we're quite the lovely bunch, aren't we? The Google sheet sounds interesting, too, if it was quick and easy enough (what kind of personality trait does "wants things to be quick and easy" come under?