Smoother sailing for elite athletes

When it comes to dealing with mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, elite athletes are 'just like us', and 'just like us' they need help, research from The Australian National University reveals. Amelia Gulliver, a PhD candidate at the Centre for Mental Health Research, in the ANU College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, recruited young elite athletes in a collaborative project with the Australian Institute of Sport to study the effectiveness of three online interventions aimed at increasing knowledge about mental disorders and reducing stigma. She found that the the athletes had, the more likely they were to seek help. "The first online intervention was very basic and minimal. It had a list of people that the athletes could if they were experiencing emotional problems, such as their doctor or GP, website links for online treatment programs such as moodgym.anu.edu.au, and telephone organisations such as Lifeline. This list was provided in all the interventions," Ms Gulliver said. "The second online intervention measured the athlete's symptoms of depression and anxiety and provided them with instant feedback about their symptoms relative to others of a similar age.