Sports psychiatry: Discipline, areas of activity, collaboration, and training

Abstract. Introduction: Sports psychiatry, a field of psychiatry, is a young medical discipline. The aim of this study was to gauge opinions on the following: sports psychiatry as a specialized subdiscipline, its areas of activity among professionals, the desire for interdisciplinary and interprofessional cooperation, and the need for specific sports psychiatry training. Methods: An online survey was performed to assess the views on sports psychiatry of German-speaking professionals in Switzerland, Germany, and Austria in the field of sports psychiatry. Results: Data from 183 professionals were included in the analysis. Most participants classified sports psychiatry as a field of psychiatry (89%), followed by sports medicine (61%) and child and adolescent psychiatry (49%). Mental health and disorders in competitive and elite sport (94%), sport and exercise for the prevention of and as therapy for mental disorders (84%), and sport-specific mental health problems and disorders in popular sport (80%) were reported by all the participants as areas of activity within sports psychiatry. Most of the participants stated the importance of interdisciplinary and interprofessional collaboration with sports psychiatry’s areas of activity. While 84% of the participants emphasized the necessity for specific training in sports psychiatry, a different picture emerged as to whether such training should be independent or integrated with postgraduate training for psychiatric or sports medicine. Conclusion: The results provide insight into sports psychiatry and its areas of activity and should be used for, and integrated with, the further development of the field.