From Mental Health to Mental Wealth in Athletes: Looking Back and Moving Forward.

Mark Uphill,Jon Swain,Dan Sly

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00935

Abstract

Considerations of athletes’ mental health are typically framed in the language of mental illness (Hughes and Leavey, 2012), a situation that contributes to stigmatization, denial, and the prevention of effective care. In this article, we provide a critical, narrative review of the extant literature on athlete mental health. Specifically, we begin by providing a brief synopsis of the extant literature on athletes’ mental health, illustrating both what we know about (i) the prevalence of mental health issues in sport and (ii) variables contributing to help-seeking behaviors in athletes. Against, this backdrop, we outline Keyes’ (2002) two-continuum model of mental health as a theoretical framework that has considerable promise in understanding, talking-about, and intervening to enhance, athletes’ mental health. This model posits two related, but distinct dimensions: one continuum indicates the presence or absence of mental health, the other the presence or absence of mental illness. From this perspective, a number of possibilities emerge. For instance, athletes could simultaneously have both positive mental health and experience of mental illness. Alternatively, athletes could be free from mental illness, but in Keyes’ terms be “languishing” (i.e., experiencing low levels of mental health). Implications for interventions based on the two-continuum model are discussed, particularly drawing on assets-based approaches to enhance flourishing (Theokas et al., 2005). We conclude the review by considering limitations in our understanding of how to promote flourishing and suggest avenues for further research.

Highlights

Whether it is through media portrayals (Oldroyd, 2010), athlete autobiographies (Beard, 2012), mental health campaigns (Performance Matters), education (Thompson and Sherman, 2007), or academic research (Rao and Hong, 2016; Wolanin et al, 2016), there is an increased visibility of the mental health challenges experienced by athletes generally and elite sportspersons
In outlining the two continuum model of mental health, we have provided a conceptual space that addresses the full spectrum of athletes’ mental health, and in turn can impact our understanding of the antecedents and consequences of mental health for athletes
The concept of “mental health” from a linguistic perspective is that of an abstraction defined by clusters of “symptoms” – when we speak as if someone has a diagnosis or has a “mental illness” we are [unwittingly perhaps] creating a reality (Walker, 2006)

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Whether it is through media portrayals (Oldroyd, 2010), athlete autobiographies (Beard, 2012), mental health campaigns (Performance Matters), education (Thompson and Sherman, 2007), or academic research (Rao and Hong, 2016; Wolanin et al, 2016), there is an increased visibility of the mental health challenges experienced by athletes generally and elite sportspersons (see Swann et al, 2015 for issues associated with the definition of “elite”). We draw upon the two-continuum model of mental health (Keyes, 2002, 2005, 2007) as a framework that arguably has promise in understanding, talking about, and intervening to enhance, athletes’ mental health. We outline a growing body of empirical support for the model, and discuss the implications of understanding athletes’ mental health from this perspective. The intention is not to cartoon the research or ideas of others, rather we use these central features to contextualize and strengthen our selection of this model

A CARICATURE OF THE LITERATURE

Summary

CONCLUSION