Anxiety Disorders in Athletes

Claudia L Reardon; Paul Gorczynski; Brian Hainline; Mary Hitchcock; Simon Rice

doi:10.1016/j.csm.2023.06.002

Anxiety Disorders in Athletes

Clin Sports Med. 2024 Jan;43(1):33-52. doi: 10.1016/j.csm.2023.06.002. Epub 2023 Jul 11.

Authors

Claudia L Reardon¹, Paul Gorczynski², Brian Hainline³, Mary Hitchcock⁴, Simon Rice⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, 6001 Research Park Boulevard, Madison, WI 53719, USA. Electronic address: clreardon@wisc.edu.
² Psychology and Counselling, School of Human Sciences, University of Greenwich, Old Royal Naval College, Park Row, Greenwich SE10 9LS, UK.
³ National Collegiate Athletic Association, 700 West Washington Street, PO Box 6222, Indianapolis, IN 46206, USA.
⁴ University of Wisconsin-Madison, Ebling Library for the Health Sciences, 2339 Health Sciences Learning Center, 750 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI 53705, USA.
⁵ Orygen, 35 Poplar Road, Parkville, Melbourne, Australia; Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Locked Bag 10, Parkville, Melbourne, Australia.

PMID: 37949513
DOI: 10.1016/j.csm.2023.06.002

Abstract

Athletes and non-athletes experience many anxiety-related symptoms and disorders at comparable rates. Contributory factors may include pressure to perform, public scrutiny, sporting career dissatisfaction, injury, and harassment and abuse in sport. Anxiety may negatively impact sport performance. Specific types of anxiety may have unique presentations in athletes. It is important to rule out general medical and substance-related causes of anxiety symptoms. Psychotherapy and pharmacology treatment options should be considered, bearing in mind athletes' environmental circumstances and physiologies.

Keywords: Anxiety; Athletes; Generalized anxiety; Panic disorder; Performance anxiety; Psychiatry; Psychology; Sport.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Anxiety / therapy
Anxiety Disorders
Athletes*
Humans
Psychotherapy
Sports*