Mental health management of elite athletes during COVID-19: a narrative review and recommendations.
Author
Reardon, Claudia LBindra, Abhinav
Blauwet, Cheri
Budgett, Richard
Campriani, Niccolo
Currie, Alan
Gouttebarge, Vincent
McDuff, David
Mountjoy, Margo
Purcell, Rosemary
Putukian, Margot
Rice, Simon
Hainline, Brian
Date
2020-09-23Journal
British journal of sports medicinePublisher
BMJ Publishing GroupType
ArticleOther
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Elite athletes suffer many mental health symptoms and disorders at rates equivalent to or exceeding those of the general population. COVID-19 has created new strains on elite athletes, thus potentially increasing their vulnerability to mental health symptoms. This manuscript serves as a narrative review of the impact of the pandemic on management of those symptoms in elite athletes and ensuing recommendations to guide that management. It specifically addresses psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy and higher levels of care. Within the realm of psychotherapy, crisis counselling might be indicated. Individual, couple/family and group psychotherapy modalities all may be helpful during the pandemic, with novel content and means of delivery. Regarding pharmacotherapy for mental health symptoms and disorders, some important aspects of management have changed during the pandemic, particularly for certain classes of medication including stimulants, medications for bipolar and psychotic disorders, antidepressants and medications for substance use disorders. Providers must consider when in-person management (eg, for physical examination, laboratory testing) or higher levels of care (eg, for crisis stabilisation) is necessary, despite potential risk of viral exposure during the pandemic. Management ultimately should continue to follow general principles of quality health care with some flexibility. Finally, the current pandemic provides an important opportunity for research on new methods of providing mental health care for athletes, and consideration for whether these new methods should extend beyond the pandemic.Rights/Terms
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.Identifier to cite or link to this item
http://hdl.handle.net/10713/13888ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1136/bjsports-2020-102884
Scopus Count
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