Birte wants to become a doctor, but migraine attacks prevent her from thinking. Robert fears that the migraines could be a career killer and hides them. The film “My Head Is Bursting. Living with Migraines” from the series “37°” by Julia Kaulbars shows three fates on Tuesday, January 31st, 10:15 p.m.

Quality of life severely limited

Migraine sufferers don't look like anything from the outside, but severe attacks with unbearable headaches, impaired perception and severe nausea can put them out of action for days. According to the World Health Organization, migraines are one of the diseases that have the greatest impact on quality of life. Around nine million Germans suffer from this neurological disease. But the worst thing is often not the illness itself, but rather the social prejudices.

Birte (33) from Berlin wants to become a doctor. Because she already had bad grades at school due to her many absences, she initially trained as a nurse and is now studying medicine - alongside work and family. When she has migraine attacks, she can hardly concentrate. But what stresses her most, aside from her health problems, is the lack of understanding she encounters - even among medical professionals.   

Everyday work with migraines

Robert (28) from Berlin actually has a different name. He wants to remain unrecognized because he fears that becoming known about his migraines could ruin his career. He is currently on probation for a renowned international auditing company. While he officially has to report sick four days a month, he drags himself through everyday work for another seven to ten days despite migraines.

Melanie (50) from Munich has had chronic migraines since February 2019. She had made a career as a team leader in business development for a large global electronics company. Now she is in early retirement and has to learn to accept her serious illness.

“37°” in the ZDFmediathek: https://37grad.zdf.de . (Available in the ZDFmediathek for five years from 8 a.m.).