Recovery

RECOVERY AS CRUCIAL TO MENTAL HEALTH PROMOTION IN ATHLETES

INTRODUCTION

  • Reasons for Athlete Dropout:

    • Majority of promising talent drops out of sport due to:

    • Overload of physical and psychological demands

    • Injuries

    • Incompatibility of school and sport

    • Growing loss of motivation (Isoard-Gautheur et al., 2016).

  • Contributing Factors to Deteriorating Mental Health:

    • Extensive training

    • High-pressure competitions

    • Media coverage

    • Critical evaluations from others (Hayes et al., 2020).

  • Prevalence of Mental Disorders in Athletes:

    • Mental health issues such as anxiety and depression in athletes are comparable to the general population (Rice et al., 2016).

IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON ATHLETES

  • Containment Efforts:

    • Challenged individuals' perceptions of control.

    • Limited opportunities for regular and meaningful social interactions.

    • Present a significant stressor to athletes at all performance levels.

  • Key Issues due to COVID-19:

    • Social isolation issues

    • Complicated career transition issues

    • Altered training and competition schedules

    • World of sport shut down completely from April to May 2020.

    • Performances were conducted without audiences during lockdown.

  • Consequences of COVID-19 Impact:

    • Exacerbated issues around social isolation and career transitions.

    • Clouded by uncertainty, leading to an increase in significant negative life events.

    • Such events may raise the prevalence of mental illness, as discussed by Sports Illustrated.

MENTAL HEALTH

  • Global Impact of Mental Disorders:

    • Mental disorders present a global problem affecting all age groups and genders.

    • There is a universal need for mental health promotion.

  • Global Burden of Disease Study Findings (Whiteford et al., 2015):

    • Mental disorders are responsible for the largest proportion of disability-adjusted life years (56.7%).

    • Approximately 971 million people worldwide are affected by mental health disorders.

    • COVID-19 identified as a catalyst for worsening mental health issues.

  • Prevalence of Depression in Athletes:

    • 15% prevalence rate of depression in athletes, particularly among those in individual sports (Nixdorf et al., 2016).

    • Higher prevalence of mental disorders in female athletes (Schaal et al., 2011).

  • Identification of Psychiatric Disorders:

    • Certain patterns of psychiatric disorders related to specific sports.

RECOVERY, STRESS, AND WELL-BEING

  • Definition of Recovery:

    • Recovery is defined as “an inter and intra-individual multilevel (psychological, physiological, social) process over time for the re-establishment of personal resources and their full functional capacity” (Kallus, 2016, p. 42).

  • Physiological Processes Involved in Recovery Include:

    • Sleep

    • Eating and hydration

    • Relaxation or meeting friends

    • Active recovery.

  • Homeostasis in Recovery and Stress:

    • Homeostasis refers to maintaining a balance between recovery and stress.

    • This balance is often disrupted in sports due to frequent physical and psychological stress.

    • Adequate recovery activities are essential to regain resources.

    • Athletes require breaks from stress due to their demanding environments.

  • Influencing Factors on Stress-Recovery Balance:

    • Lifestyle choices (e.g., recreation, sleep habits, diet, hydration)

    • Health status (e.g., illness, infections)

    • Training parameters (e.g., frequency, intensity, volume)

    • Environment (teammates, coaching staff).

  • Health Consequences of Imbalance:

    • Imbalance may lead to health issues including sleep disturbances.

MENTAL HEALTH PREVENTION: RECOVERY AND STRESS MONITORING

  • Performance Enhancement through Monitoring:

    • Monitoring patterns of behavior and health is crucial in enhancing performance.

    • Evaluate training and competition loads along with athletes' responses.

  • Measurement Methods for Monitoring:

    • Subjective Methods:

    • Self-report (most frequent method)

    • Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9; Kroenke et al., 2001).

    • Objective Methods:

    • Physiological markers such as creatine kinase or urea levels.

    • Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes (REST-Q Sport; Kellman & Kallus, 2016) measuring stress-recovery balance through 76 Likert scale items, along with an abbreviated version (36 items).

    • Acute Recovery and Stress Scale (ARSS; Kellmann & Kolling, 2019), designed to measure acute recovery-stress states in response to training with 32 adjectives.

    • Short Recovery and Stress Scale - 8 items, used to prevent overtraining.

    • Profile of Mood States (POMS; McNair et al., 1992), utilized to detect mood disturbances resulting from training with the original version consisting of 65 items.

ICEBERG PROFILE – POMS

  • Iceberg Profile Explanation:

    • T-score representation where the population mean is set at 50%.

    • Understanding the implications of T-scores suggests that higher scores may indicate greater mental health challenges while lower scores suggest better functioning.

T-score Calculation

Rating Level

35

Less successful

40-50

Average

50

Population mean

55-60

More successful

  • POMS Variables:

    • Tension

    • Depression

    • Anger

    • Vigor

    • Fatigue

    • Confusion

GUIDELINES FOR DEVELOPING A MONITORING SYSTEM

  • Key Topics in Monitoring System Development:

    • Type of monitoring data (subjective vs. objective).

    • Methods of data collection (paper-pencil vs. digital).

    • Frequency and timing of data collection (daily/weekly; time of day).

    • Data privacy considerations.

    • Individual vs. collective evaluations (e.g., team vs. individual responses).

    • Feedback type (e.g., personal meetings, visual presentations).

  • Responsibilities and Approaches in Monitoring:

    • Individual assignments (e.g., sport psychologist for subjective data) versus collective approaches.

    • Implementation of data collection and analysis.

    • Illustrating the importance and benefits of monitoring systems.

    • Acceptance of monitoring by stakeholders (e.g., coaches, teams).

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

  • Importance of Balancing Recovery and Stress:

    • Critical for mental health promotion in athletes.

    • Regular monitoring encourages preventative measures.

  • Psychometric Questionnaires:

    • Well-suited for observing the athletic population.

    • Systematic use can help alert necessary changes to prevent under-recovery, overtraining, burnout, etc.

  • Qualified Personnel for Monitoring:

    • Should be led by qualified individuals (sport psychologists, sport scientists with psychological training).

    • Enables a thorough observation of both sport-specific and general mental health factors.

  • Educational Workshops:

    • Crucial for promoting mental health.

    • Stress management and recovery as protective factors for mental health.

    • Monitoring recovery and stress collectively, followed by teaching strategies to enhance recovery and mental health (e.g., relaxation techniques).

  • Monitoring Systems Should be Functional:

    • Need to identify detrimental mental health signs efficiently.

    • Ensuring prompt quality help and referrals to clinically trained psychologists or psychiatrists when necessary.

IN A NUTSHELL…

  • Foundational Values:

    • An atmosphere of trust and transparency is vital for promoting, maintaining, and managing mental health in athletes.

    • Core institutional values should prioritize mental health and athlete well-being.

  • Data Gathering and Transparency:

    • Trust and openness among all parties will enhance the ability to gather mental health data.

    • This leads to an improved understanding of mental health issues.

  • Increased Media Presence:

    • Greater focus on mental health topics in the media leads to more effective means of promoting mental health awareness.