The unseen battle:

Exploring the intersection between mental health struggles in elite athletes

Abstract

The focus of developmental research in the past decade has accentuated the critical nature of acknowledging the mental health of elite athletes. Professionals and researchers have come together to recognise the susceptibility of elite athletes to mental health challenges at a level similar to that of the general population (Moesch et al., 2018; Poucher & Cairney, 2021). Elite athletes are recognised to experience a diverse range of disorders such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and substance abuse, which can be influenced by a number of aspects related to their athletic career, performance, and external factors (Rice & Parker, 2016). The notion of ‘mental health’ has been described in many ways. According to the World Health Organisation, mental health is defined as “a state of well-being in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community” (World Health Organisation, 2014). This given definition highlights that mental health goes beyond the absence of disorders and emphasises the capacity of an individual to achieve optimal well-being. Furthermore, the American Psychiatric Association defines ‘mental disorders’ as “a syndrome characterised by clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotion regulation, or behaviour that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning,” including conditions such as eating disorders, depression, and anxiety (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).