(Vienna, 09-09-2024) While targeted psychological support in competitive sport is now undisputed and sports psychology interventions of all kinds aimed at optimizing performance are used, particularly in high-performance sport, psychiatric illnesses are still often considered a taboo subject in top-class sport. To counteract this, the Clinical Division of Social Psychiatry at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of University Hospital Vienna and MedUni Vienna is placing a new focus on mental health in competitive sport and is launching a cooperation with the Austrian Swimming Association.
The mental health of competitive athletes has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years. In a meta-analysis, the IOC Commission on Mental and Physical Health identified 640 different stressors in a professional competitive sports career that can jeopardize the risk of maintaining the mental and physical health of athletes. Another meta-analysis examined the prevalence of mental health problems and disorders in active athletes. The results show that 19% of active athletes had alcohol abuse and up to 34% were affected by anxiety disorders and depression. The newly established cooperation between the Clinical Division of Social Psychiatry at University Hospital Vienna and MedUni Vienna and the Austrian Swimming Association (OSV) aims to help break down the taboos surrounding psychiatric illnesses in competitive sport and offers top athletes in the OSV specialized sports psychiatry care in a timely manner.
Fabian Friedrich, psychiatrist and senior physician at the Clinical Division of Social Psychiatry and project manager: "The cooperation with the Austrian Swimming Association is a milestone in the treatment of mental illness in competitive sport. Those affected now have quick and anonymous access to a multidisciplinary team for the recognition and treatment of psychiatric problems. Mental stress symptoms can present themselves differently in top-class sport in particular. Recognizing these and treating them in a targeted manner is a core objective of this cooperation." For example, depressive symptoms can lead to a situation where the usual range of performance cannot be called upon. Only by recognizing and discussing these symptoms and providing adequate therapy can a significant improvement be achieved.
Thanks to the new cooperation, top athletes at the OSV now have the opportunity to contact the project team at the Clinical Department of Social Psychiatry directly and anonymously by phone or email if they are unsure about their own mental health or have specific problems, without the OSV being involved or aware of it. In emergencies, it is possible to visit the acute outpatient clinic of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy without an appointment.
"Competitive athletes face particular challenges and psychological stressors in their everyday lives. In order to be able to provide appropriate help here, we need specialist staff who are specially sensitized to the issues of competitive sport. At the same time, it must be possible to access support services as discreetly and easily as possible. Both are guaranteed by the specialists at University Hospital Vienna as part of the cooperation," says Severin Kukla, Chairman of the Sports Commission for Swimming of the Austrian Swimming Federation. "It is important to the Austrian Swimming Federation to give athletes the justified feeling that there is someone who can help them in their special situation regarding any psychological difficulties - also or especially as a supplement to any psychological care they may already be receiving." The new cooperation is intended to take an important step towards removing the taboos surrounding mental illness and at the same time create a contemporary treatment offer.