Mental health issues are a common phenomenon in elite sport

Nearly three-quarters of Dutch elite athletes and forty percent of their coaches report sport-related distress. This is one of the findings from a study conducted by Amsterdam UMC together with NOC*NSF, the organisation which represents the Dutch Olympic Committee and the Dutch Sport Federation, published today in BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine.

The most common mental health problem among athletes and coaches is report sport-related distress (73% and 41%, respectively). Unfavorable alcohol consumption that can negatively affect sports performance is also common (52% and 53%). In athletes, there is also a link between their mental health problems on the one hand and life events and/or severe injuries on the other.

“These results are comparable to the mental health of non-athletes and are in line with similar studies among elite athletes worldwide. These are high percentages, but these are self-reported complaints and not serious diagnosed mental illnesses. Nevertheless, sports physicians and other supervisors should pay more attention to the psychological well-being of elite athletes. In this way, we can identify mental problems in athletes at an early stage and thus provide the right support in a timely manner,” says extraordinary professor of sports medicine at Amsterdam UMC and University of Pretoria, Vincent Gouttebarge.

156 athletes and 95 coaches completed anonymous questionnaires regarding their mental health. They were also asked about factors that could affect an athlete’s mental state, such as injuries or surgeries, performance problems or adverse life events. Among elite athletes, there was a significant association between recent life events and anxiety, depression, sleep problems, unfavorable alcohol consumption and eating problems. The researchers also found a significant association between serious injuries and anxiety and sleep problems in athletes. They didn’t find any of these relationships in the group of coaches.

In order to identify any mental problems in athletes in good time, the researchers recommend that sports physicians use Sport Mental Health Assessment Tool 1 of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) prior to a sports season. “This is an instrument to screen elite athletes for mental health symptoms. This makes it possible to identify athletes who are at risk of mental health problems or who already suffer from them at an early stage. And then the sports doctors can adequately support, treat and/or refer them,” adds Gino Kerkhoffs, Chair of the Academic Center for Evidence-based Sports Medicine at Amsterdam UMC.