Mental health & Sports

Does sport combat depression? Does depression appear in sport?

Physical activity has always been linked to good mental health. Practicing a sport or physical exercise and maintaining healthy habits not only helps us to be physically healthy, it also helps to release endorphins, improve self-esteem, generate motivation, gain confidence, amongst other benefits. Therefore, an indicator plus key of strong and stable mental health is regular physical activity.

However, although participation in sport provides many benefits for individual health and well-being, athletes are exposed to additional risk factors where self-demand, stress, pressure and great expectations come to the fore. The pandemic has also affected performance of athletes and challenged their mental health.

Therefore, maintaining a healthy relationship between mind and body is key to good sports performance.

What mental health issues do athletes face?

There are common psychological disorders that can influence sports performance. Not being exclusive to sports, but they are usually the root of these problems in athletes. Some of these problems are so closely related that athletes can have two disorders at the same time.

Overtraining syndrome

Which can be described as a demand and excessive training by athletes. It usually manifests itself as physical and/or mental fatigue, and this in turn can lead the athlete to lose interest in sports, as well as in other aspects of their life, which is reflected in poor performance or even retirement.

 Depression

Depression is one of the most common mental illnesses worldwide and in recent years the affirmation of depression has increased within the population of elite athletes. It is considered another of the common and debilitating factors.  Michael Phelps himself, a former Olympic swimmer and multi-medalist, has spoken about his fight against depression. And like him, there are plenty of cases of elite athletes who struggle with depression; the most recent gymnast and multi-medallist Simone Biles.

Anxiety

Anxiety disorders, characterized by frequent worry, excessive and persistent fears, are also present among elite athletes. It is this disorder that is attributed to the resignation of Simone, who in 2018 admitted taking anti-anxiety medication, after confessing to having been the victim of abuse by a former national team doctor.

Eating disorders

Eating disorders are one of the most common psychological disorders in athletes and include anorexia nervosa and bulimia. Both anorexia and bulimia are more common in female athletes, particularly those who participate in sports.

 Thus, sport psychology has grown dramatically in recent years, as has the demand to better understand the mind/body relationship. Optimum mental health is key for everyone, including athletes.