Keywords: Athlete abuse, injuries, mental health, high-performance sport “Olympic level sport takes more than just your daily dedication during practice hours. And when I say that I go beyond the obvious notion of dieting, resting, and even-meditating. What starts as a child’s dream ends up becoming not just something you do, but who you are: […]
Tag: Mental Health
The ‘weekend warrior’ physical activity pattern: what’s good for the body is good for the mind!
Author: Gary O’Donovan (Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia. Email: g.odonovan@uniandes.edu.co) Large studies have shown that the risk of cardiometabolic disease (1) and the risk of death (2,3) are reduced to similar extents in ‘weekend warriors’ who exercise once or twice per week and in the ‘regularly active’ who exercise more often. […]
Understanding Mental Health in Female Student-Athletes: What Clinicians Need to Know
Authors: Ling Beisecker, Patrick Harrison, Marzia Josephson, and J.D. DeFreese When thinking about female student-athletes, we often picture the pinnacle of strength and resilience. In reality, many female student-athletes are battling mental health challenges like depression, anxiety, and stress that can affect both their performance and well-being. A recent systematic review and meta-analysis led by […]
Sport Mental Health Assessment Tool Use: Improving Risk Identification in Elite Athletes
In 2021, the International Olympic Committee introduced the Sport Mental Health Assessment Tool (SMHAT-1) to screen athletes for mental health concerns. This tool consists of a series of steps to evaluate an athlete’s mental well-being. The first step involves completing the Athlete Psychological Strain Questionnaire (APSQ), which helps determine if further assessment is necessary. Athletes […]
From Alternative to Mainstay: the overwhelming evidence supporting physical activity as a treatment for anxiety and depression
Authors: Ben Singh, Timothy Olds, Rachel Curtis, Dot Dumuid, Rosa Virgara, Amanda Watson, Kimberley Szeto, Edward O’Connor, Ty Ferguson, Emily Eglitis, Aaron Miatke, Catherine EM Simpson, Carol Maher. Ben Singh, Alliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition, and Activity (ARENA), University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, Ben.Singh@unisa.edu.au In this blog, we provide an overview […]
The Psychological Impact of Traumatic Events in Sports
Psychological Aftermath of Trauma Extends Beyond Athletes Introduction Risks are inherent in sports. Athletes engage in training and competition with an awareness that injury may occur. Certain sports (e.g. combat, collision, high speed or extreme) are intuitively associated with a greater potential for more severe injuries; however unexpected medical events can occur at any time. […]
Teaming up to try and tackle the stigma around mental health in rugby
Written by Dr Steffan Griffin (PhD Student) and Heather Lewis (Mental Health Foundation) Since the LooseHeadz charity was formed in 2017, they have been relentlessly raising money and awareness around mental health and wellbeing in rugby. Through the selling of clothes and merchandise, they have raised thousands of pounds to support various mental health initiatives, […]
Competing Against COVID-19: have we forgotten about student-athletes’ mental health?
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, competitive athletes have expressed substantial grief and frustration attributed to alterations in routine, limited or modified training, and the postponement of international competitions, such as the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics and international championship events [1,2]. The additional strain from the removal of team support networks, which are often […]
Using rugby as a vehicle to #Really tackle the stigma around mental health
Rugby is a sport more often associated with ‘big hits’ than heart-to-heart conversations. However, we know that at the grassroots level of the game, there are numerous health and wellbeing benefits associated with the sport(1). Whilst a lot of these benefits relate to physical health, we also know that rugby can provide participants with a […]
Anxiety and insomnia in athletes during the COVID era: Part 1 – Foundation and Facts
By Drs Carla Edwards @Edwards10Carla and Meeta Singh @athletesleepmd1 Anxiety and Insomnia, respectively, are the most prevalent psychiatric and sleep disorders experienced by the general public, and anxiety and insomnia symptoms are highly prevalent among elite athletes. While each may exist without the other, they are often common partners. Additionally, they serve as risk […]