Dr. David Clarke Uncovers the Hidden Cause of Chronic Migraines

By Robert White, Editor-In-Chief

Millions of Americans suffer from chronic migraines, yet many struggle to find effective treatment. Traditional medicine often focuses on pain management through medication, but Dr. David Clarke, President of the Association for Treatment of Neuroplastic Symptoms (ATNS), is pioneering a different approach. According to Dr. Clarke, migraines and many other chronic conditions are not always the result of disease or injury but can be triggered by stress-related changes in the brain—what he calls Neuroplastic Symptoms (NS).

“Migraine is obviously a severe headache,” Dr. Clarke explained. “It can be accompanied by visual auras and other neurological symptoms, and some people are so debilitated by it they can barely get out of bed. But in many cases, there’s no biological explanation. There’s no organ disease or structural damage causing it.” Instead, Clarke and his team at ATNS focus on uncovering hidden stressors—whether from past trauma or present-day pressures—to identify the real source of a patient’s chronic pain.

Dr. Clarke’s journey into this field began unexpectedly. After years of rigorous medical training at Williams College, the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, and Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, he encountered a patient whose symptoms defied traditional medical explanation. That patient became his first case of neuroplastic symptoms—physical conditions caused not by external injury but by learned neural pathways in the brain reacting to stress.

“The brain can produce pain or illness almost anywhere in the body of almost any degree of severity that can last for years or decades,” Clarke said. “The only way to successfully treat it is to find the underlying stress.”

For many of his patients, migraines and other symptoms are triggered by deeply rooted emotional stress, sometimes stretching back to childhood. He recalls one patient who only experienced pain while driving to work. “When he was driving home, he was fine,” Clarke noted. “So naturally, I started asking about how things were going at his workplace. No surprise—they were not going well. Once he made that connection, he was able to make changes, talk to his supervisor, and his symptoms improved dramatically.”

For others, stress from the past lingers in subtle but powerful ways. One patient suffered from dizziness and vomiting for 15 years, leading to repeated hospitalizations. No medical tests could explain her symptoms, and even psychiatric evaluations confirmed she was mentally healthy. When she came under Clarke’s care, he discovered a connection between her symptoms and her emotionally abusive mother. “She was having these attacks in connection with encounters with her mother, both direct and indirect,” he explained. “Once she saw the pattern, she set boundaries in that relationship and never had another attack.”

Dr. Clarke emphasizes that these symptoms are not imaginary—they are real, measurable changes in the brain’s neural pathways. “We tell people it’s not in their head—it’s in their brain,” he said. “MRI studies have shown real anatomical changes in brain circuits related to stress.”

The concept of Neuroplastic Symptoms extends far beyond migraines. Clarke and his team at ATNS have identified links between stress and conditions like fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue, and even many cases of long COVID. The underlying theme? The brain misinterprets signals from the body due to prolonged stress, triggering physical symptoms that can last for years.

One of the most striking aspects of Clarke’s work is the psychological profile of many of his patients. “They are detail-oriented, hardworking, compassionate—people who take care of everyone else but never put themselves on their own list,” he said. “Inside, they’re carrying an enormous burden of stress, like Olympic weightlifters bearing far more than they can handle.”

For those struggling with chronic migraines or other unexplained symptoms, Dr. Clarke encourages self-reflection. “Ask yourself, ‘What’s going on in my life right now? What might be triggering me? What past experiences shaped how I respond to stress today?’” He also suggests writing down childhood experiences that one would never want for their own child. “Seeing those events from a different perspective can be eye-opening,” he said. “One patient, who had spent years downplaying the stress of growing up in a volatile household, only realized how damaging it had been when she imagined her young niece in the same situation. That shift in perspective helped her finally address her stress, and her symptoms improved.”

While traditional migraine treatments rely on medication, Clarke sees stress awareness and self-care as crucial missing pieces. He advocates for what he calls Pain Relief Psychology, a treatment approach that focuses on education, emotional awareness, and stress reduction. “Pain Relief Psychology begins with education that pain or illness can be generated by the brain, thereby reducing patients’ fear of damage to their bodies,” he explained. “Shifting attention to how stress might be affecting the brain begins the process of uncovering triggers. Symptoms improve when these are addressed, sometimes dramatically.”

As chronic migraine awareness grows, Dr. Clarke hopes more people will recognize the role that stress plays in their health. For those looking for answers, he encourages them to visit symptomatic.me, where they can take a 12-question self-assessment to see if their symptoms might be stress-related. The site also offers books, courses, and an app to help people dive deeper into understanding and treating neuroplastic symptoms.

Ultimately, Clarke’s message is one of hope. “People need to know that there is a way out,” he said. “Chronic pain and illness don’t have to be a lifelong sentence. When we uncover the hidden stressors that are driving these conditions, real healing can begin.”