Every now and then I get migraine headaches. I have for years.

I still can’t work out what the pattern is, and what causes them, but it’s likely to be things like lack of sleep, lack of water, stress, or something I’m eating. Sometimes I can go weeks or months without any, and then all of sudden get a couple within a week.

Apart from trying to work out the cause, and live a healthier lifestyle, one of the immediate remedies I have for migraines is to take strong pain killers with codeine in them.

For really strong migraines I might have to take 2 tablets, and when that happens, not only does the pain subside, but my whole body feels very relaxed, and I tend to just feel like everything is “no big deal”.

It’s in those moments that I realise how easy it would be to get addicted to pain killers, or any kind of drug, and why so many people do. I get a similar feeling when, after a hard day’s work, I come home and have a beer and suddenly I feel great and everything is right with the world. For people who have problems in their life, I can empathise with them why drugs and alcohol would become very addictive.

I think I’m too much of a hypochondriac to become addicted to drugs and alcohol. I see the dangers and symptoms a mile off and get worried. But there are so many other addictions in life that can be just as harmful, but perhaps go under the radar because they aren’t as obvious or considered dangerous.

What’s your addiction? Whether it’s food, sex, the approval of other people, drugs, alcohol, self image, anything, I reckon it’s healthy to stop and think every now and then about the things in life that have too much control over us.