Mental disorders in elite athletes

Background It was only recently that mental disorders in high performance athletes gained more and more interest. Before, there was a widespread belief that high performance athletes have much lower rates of mental disorders as compared to the general population. Aim Based on the currently available literature this article presents an overview of mental disorders in high performance athletes and discusses specific features in the diagnostics and therapy. Material and methods Selective review of the literature. Results Overall, the risk for high performance athletes to develop a mental disorder is comparable to that of the general population. Depending on the type of sports the risk for some specific mental disorders might even be increased, for example for eating disorders in esthetic sports, running or cycling. Also, sport-specific psychopathological conspicuousness has been described, such as anorexia athletica, body dysmorphic disorder and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Conclusion Mental disorders can also occur in elite athletes but the risk factors can be different from those of the general population. Stigmatization of mental disorders is still widespread in high performance sport so that it is necessary to more intensively inform those affected and also their surroundings about mental disorders, their recognition and particularly the treatment options.