Mental Health Issues In Elite Athletes

Being an athlete takes a lot of mental toughness. Athletes constantly have to be mentally tough to get through all the curve balls that are being thrown at them. Whether it’s an injury that is hard to overcome

The negative impact mental health has had on student-athletes is a continuous problem across the globe and has been a topic of interest in the research world for many years. The stigma behind mental health have lead to symptoms of depression and anxiety, reluctance to seek help, the sense of helplessness and loneliness and many more. In a student-athlete, these stress levels are brought upon the individual for multiple reasons. For example, student-athletes have to accomplish a certain degree of success both on the playing field and in the classroom (A.P. , Deitrick, J.M. , & Reynolds, E. (2016). Maintaining a required average and playing time can become not only physically but mentally exhausting. This literature review will discuss the barriers and facilitators to mental health in student-athletes and how the stigmatization of those student-athletes who suffer from a mental illness have an impact on their everyday life.

In America, the sports industry is one of the largest and most powerful country; whether the sport is football, baseball, basketball, or any of the other sports the country has. Recently reports and documented cases have risen involving some of these sports’ greatest athletes, as well as current players, dealing with concussions (Famous sports concussions, 2012). Numerous athletes, some of them being the sport’s highest profile players, were found to have several mental illnesses and diseases, that have been attributed to head injuries sustained while they were playing their sports. The biggest and most predominant of these injuries is concussions. They can cause not only immediate issues, but also a lifetime of health

Are you at more risk to develop a mental illness if you are a professional athlete?

In the second journal by (Rapp, 2006) the researcher conducted a test by which, “Individual responses of injured athletes varied from those who took injury in stride to those who required psychiatric intervention.” Rapp (p. 9) This seemed to significantly designate the further examination of the importance of not simply “Assuming mood disturbances nor overlooking a serious emotional response in the injured athlete.” Rapp (pg.13) Therefore, the athlete can be diagnosed in a clinical sense with the appropriate testing to confirm or rule out the need for psychiatric help at the time

Injury. That is why it can be beneficial to bring in the Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Sport as a tool for coaches to monitor stress/recovery states ” (Tessitore, Meeusen, Cortis, and Capranica, 2007). Even in the physical state of an athlete during preseason their psychology state is

This study takes a different approach when it comes to improving and maintaining the mental health of the athletes when injury is involved. Some may consider being mentally tough to be a positive attribute of an athlete. However, having too much “mental toughness” may be detrimental to certain athletes. Since mental toughness is related to positive coping methods and injury response, it is more likely that these athletes who have high mental toughness to participate through an injury. This may cause further

Many people in the world face depression on a daily basis. But, people often do not realize that athletes sometimes get the worst end of the straw. Many studies have been done to show that although some athletes may have depression caused by sports, overall playing any sport, including volleyball, can help an athlete overcome their depression.

They demonstrated that the initial reactions to injury and retirement can be serious and negative, as these athletes experienced symptoms consistent with major depressive disorder, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). That being said, there were several limitations that affected the overall significance of their results. First of all, there were only three case studies, and most of the information reported upon came from within the therapeutic relationship. In addition, the authors did not provide qualification levels for the counselors, the amount of sessions attended, or long-term effects of the treatments. Furthermore, as the study utilized qualitative methods, one cannot take any concrete conclusions away from their results. However, Heird and Steinfeldt (2013) provided an adequate foundation for future research involving the initial reactions of athletes who are confronted with injury and/or

There is pewee teams, high school and college teams, city leagues and professional teams. After every game we witness the emotions on the field, off the field, and after the games. There are people that are happy for the win, sad about their loss, or upset about the calls made during the game. The Huffington Post article about “The Mental and Emotional Stress of an NFL Athlete,” provides us with the emotional capacity a player must have to be able to endure the stress of playing the game (Cameron, Ronnie). There have been incidents, in which a player ended his girlfriend’s life as well as his, and another reported suicide due to stress correlated to playing a game. The fear of being labeled emotional distress as a NFL player, does not allow the player to get the proper attention or guidance needed to relieve the stress. The emotions that go on during a game as well as all the stress of a career have intensified due to the lack of transparency provided from the player. Therefore, being emotionally unbalanced can lead to actions players may not understand or take full responsibility

I once witnessed, Charlie Beljan, sitting on the grass of the golf course when he was having a panic attack. Beljan is a professional golfer on the PGA Tour, so I was a bit surprised to see him in that kind of psychological state of mind: “After signing for one of his lowest scores of the year, Beljan left the course in an ambulance, suffering from what turned out to be a panic attack” (Crouse, 2013, para.7). This type of extreme anxiety is often linked with high levels of performance in sporting events. Many sportsmen, such as Beljan, do not outwardly show these symptoms of a panic or anxiety attack, but it is part of the mental and psychological stress at the professional level. Beljan’s public exhibition of a panic attack provides important insight into the internal mental pressures that occur during high performance events.

The life of a professional athlete is a pinwheel spinning in the wind. The lives of these individuals are turning in a constant cyclone of directions with emotions high at all times. Blowing every which way, they never knowing if the given moment is a struggling challenge or a positive accomplishment. At any second, that moment can be blown into the wind, possibly never to return.

Career transitioning and retirement for athletes with high athletic identities has been acknowledged as a potentially vulnerable and problematic phase. Specifically, individuals may encounter unique psychological challenges as they adjust to life after sport. Park et al. (2012) found that 70% of the studies they reviewed included participants, who expressed career transition challenges or negative emotions, including feelings of loss, identity crisis, and distress. With increased understanding of the psychological and emotional experience of retiring collegiate athletes, mental health professionals can provide the appropriate support and guidance required for more adaptive transitions out of sport. The importance of maintaining adequate mental

Another example of an sports athlete who suffered from depression whilst injured was runner Liesl Reichelt .A banker got inured whilst walking off a high curb when travelling to Central Park but she got seriously injured and she suffered from an herniated disk in her spinal cord as a result she was advised by her doctor to stop running for a while so she can recover but she became depressed due to this she also became moody and gained weight she posted a statement

letes will tell you from a young age that they aspire to be the best in the sport that they do. Whether its making it to that Division one school or becoming an elite athlete in the professional sense, where the individual now earns a living from playing said sport. Athletes are defined as an individual who has trained and/or become skilled in sports, exercise, or games in which require physical strength, stamina, and agility (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). This then posses the question, can an individual whom is not at their best physical strength or agility or stamina be someone that we’d consider an athlete? We’ve seen over time an increase in the concern of athlete’s health whether it be from alcohol and/or drug abuse, and eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or other disordered eating patterns. Both problems could be detrimental to the individual’s health and both raise ethical dilemmas for a coach to consider. In this paper we will further discuss the issues associated with both drug or substance abuse and eating disorders in athletes.