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Psychische Erkrankungen bei Leistungssportlern

Mental disorders in elite athletes

  • Schwerpunkt: Sport und Bewegung in der Psychotherapie - Übersichten
  • Published:
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Zusammenfassung

Hintergrund

Erst in jüngster Zeit finden psychische Erkrankungen von Leistungssportlern mehr Beachtung, nachdem lange davon ausgegangen wurde, dass diese bei Leistungssportlern sehr viel seltener seien als in der Allgemeinbevölkerung.

Ziel der Arbeit

Aufbauend auf die aktuell verfügbare Literatur wird ein Überblick über psychische Erkrankungen bei Leistungssportlern sowie mögliche Besonderheiten in Diagnostik und Therapie gegeben.

Material und Methoden

Selektive Literaturübersicht.

Ergebnisse

Insgesamt kommen psychische Erkrankungen bei Leistungssportlern vergleichbar häufig vor wie in der Allgemeinbevölkerung. In Abhängigkeit von den Sportarten kann jedoch das Risiko sogar erhöht sein, z. B. für Essstörungen in ästhetischen Sportarten, beim Radfahren oder beim Laufen. Daneben gibt es sportspezifische psychopathologische Auffälligkeiten wie Anorexia athletica, körperdysmorphe Störung oder die chronische traumatische Enzephalopathie.

Diskussion

Psychische Erkrankungen können auch bei Leistungssportlern auftreten, wobei sich die Risikofaktoren von denen in der Allgemeinbevölkerung unterscheiden können. Das Stigma psychischer Erkrankungen ist im Hochleistungssport noch weit verbreitet, sodass Betroffene und auch deren Umfeld über psychische Erkrankungen, ihre Erkennung, aber insbesondere ihre Behandlungsmöglichkeiten noch besser intensiver informiert und aufgeklärt werden müssen.

Abstract

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.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Charité Mitte, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Charitéplatz 1, 10117, Berlin, Deutschland

    Andreas Ströhle

  2. Fachklinik für Psychiatrie, Psychosomatik und Psychotherapie Flensburg, Flensburg, Deutschland

    Frank Helmig

  3. Klinik für Gerontopsychiatrie, Klinikum Christophsbad Göppingen, Göppingen, Deutschland

    Karsten Henkel

  4. Klinik für Psychiatrie, Psychotherapie und Psychosomatik, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Deutschland

    Karsten Henkel

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  1. Andreas Ströhle
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  2. Frank Helmig
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  3. Karsten Henkel
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Correspondence to Andreas Ströhle.

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Interessenkonflikt

A. Ströhle, F. Helmig und K. Henkel geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht.

Für diesen Beitrag wurden von den Autoren keine Studien an Menschen oder Tieren durchgeführt. Für die aufgeführten Studien gelten die jeweils dort angegebenen ethischen Richtlinien.

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Ströhle, A., Helmig, F. & Henkel, K. Psychische Erkrankungen bei Leistungssportlern. Psychotherapeut 65, 160–166 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00278-020-00420-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00278-020-00420-2

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