Primary headache disorders are very common throughout the world, producing widespread and substantial disability and representing a concrete public-health priority. Tension-type headache (TTH) is the most common type of primary headache disorder, with a lifetime prevalence in the general population ranging between 30% and 78% in different studies. In general, headache is a chronic disorder with episodic manifestations that may range from few attacks/year up to daily episodes. Its impact on individuals' lives is greater than has generally been realized, including psychiatric, psychological and social correlates. The impact on patients can be very high, including ictal symptom burden, interictal burden, cumulative burden and impact on other people. The individual burden of TTH includes both symptoms occurring during the attacks (pain, eventually accompanied by no more than one of phonophobia or photophobia, according to International Classification of Headache Disorders) and elements of interictal burden, such as anxiety, mood disorders, affective distress and avoidance behavior. While present, symptoms may cause debility and prostration, and reduce functional ability. Even if patients with TTH generally are not unable to work, effectiveness and productivity may be consistently reduced. This secondary disability is quite significant because headache in general is most common in people between their teens and 50-60 years of age, the productive years. The elements of interictal burden, instead, may continuously affect wellbeing and impair quality of life. Moreover, TTH has a substantial impact on the health system, due to both direct and indirect financial cost. The high prevalence of TTH, considering its individual impact and huge financial costs, has important implications for health policy, since it is a source of high but potentially reducible socioeconomic burden. Essentially, TTH management is a public-health priority.