In the last few decades, sports psychiatry has been on an upward trend in building awareness for mental health disparities in everyday athletes. From high school to professional sports, it is becoming a part of sports medicine. A popular organization that caught my attention in this field includes the International Society for Sports Psychiatry (ISSP). After decades of research involving neuropsychiatry, there have been many scenarios that would lead to a negative impact on an athlete’s mental health. It has been shown that head trauma, concussions, drug abuse, overtraining, ADHD, and eating disorders are some of the cases that have a detrimental impact on an athlete. A majority of everyday activities have led to a negative impact on an athlete’s mental health.
Athletes undergo intense physical and mental challenges. While physical fatigue was traditionally thought to stem from muscle and cardiovascular strain, recent insights suggest that the brain plays a crucial role in regulating exercise and fatigue sensations. This means that even at peak exertion, only a portion of muscle mass is utilized to prevent catastrophic failure of the body’s balance during exercise. A similar concept of “mind over matter” has been shown to provide a boost in a person’s ability to overcome obstacles.
Many athletes start their sporting journey in childhood or adolescence, facing various physical and social pressures as they progress. Injuries and the stress of retirement, particularly early retirement, can lead to mental health issues. Athletes are susceptible to sport-specific mental disorders such as concussion, using performance-enhancing drugs, and eating disorders, as well as common mental health conditions like depression and anxiety.
Sports psychiatrists play a major role in addressing mental health concerns among athletes, not only treating existing disorders but also working to prevent and reduce the stigma surrounding mental health issues in sports. Some of the common groups impacted in sports psychiatry include concussion protocol victims, Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, overtraining, and female athlete triads.
Overall, sports psychiatry is on the rise with the decreasing stigma involved in mental health. People are becoming more acceptant of the factors that have a detrimental impact on people’s mentality. It is not discussed enough regarding what athletes try to overcome to reach a peak level of performance.
