Abstract
Elite athletes are not immune to mental health issues. Yet, quality research on mental health in elites has so far been limited. Thus, while research on mental health emphasises the prevalence and nature of disorders in the general population, its extent in elite performers remains unclear. Indeed, the prevalence of mental conditions cannot be accurately calculated in elite athletes due to a lack of diagnostic criteria and screening tools specifically adapted to this unique population. Researchers and practitioners are, therefore, confronted with biases reflecting the use of clinical norms and instruments initially developed for the general population. Furthermore, without considering the athlete persona as well as the sport culture in which elites play, there is a risk of under- or over-estimating the prevalence of mental health issues in high-performance environments. Due to the unique characteristics surrounding an elite athlete’s life, we therefore suggest a change of perspective: moving from the usual normal-versus-pathological to a functional-versus-dysfunctional approach. Implications for future research and practice are discussed, most notably examining practitioners’ expertise in diagnosing and treating elite performers.
Highlights
Concerns about mental health have been growing for years (World Health Organization [WHO], 2016) and reached the sports world where research on elite performers has recently experienced a sudden development
Studies have suggested that the prevalence of mental health issues in sport is comparable to the general population (Markser, 2011; Schaal et al, 2011; Gulliver et al, 2015; Rice et al, 2016)
Conclusions on the prevalence of mental health disorders in elite athletes in comparison with the general population (Markser, 2011; Schaal et al, 2011; Gulliver et al, 2015) may be biased and, and as previously mentioned, somewhat premature. Reflecting these concerns, this paper aims to address three particular issues relating to mental health in elite sport that seem to have been so far overlooked: (i) differences in the genesis of conditions; (ii) the challenges of applying general population science to non-ordinary people such as elite athletes, and; (iii) the functionality or dysfunctionality of behaviours depending on the context in which they occur
Summary
Concerns about mental health have been growing for years (World Health Organization [WHO], 2016) and reached the sports world where research on elite performers has recently experienced a sudden development. Research has argued that elite athletes might be more at-risk to develop certain mental health issues (Roberts et al, 2016) such as eating disorders (Byrne and McLean, 2002; Sudi et al, 2004; Bär and Markser, 2013; Thompson and Sherman, 2014), depression (Hughes and Leavey, 2012), and common mental disorders (i.e., distress, anxiety, depression, substance abuse; Gouttebarge et al, 2015a,b). There is an overall lack of quality research investigating mental health in elite sport (Rice et al, 2016; Sebbens et al, 2016). This dearth results, at least in part, from a lack of consensus regarding the diagnosis of mental disorders in elites as well as from a lack of
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