TY - JOUR T1 - Athlete mental health: future directions JF - British Journal of Sports Medicine JO - Br J Sports Med SP - 1243 LP - 1244 DO - 10.1136/bjsports-2021-104443 VL - 55 IS - 22 AU - Alan Currie AU - Cheri Blauwet AU - Abhinav Bindra AU - Richard Budgett AU - Niccolo Campriani AU - Brian Hainline AU - David McDuff AU - Margo Mountjoy AU - Rosemary Purcell AU - Margot Putukian AU - Claudia L Reardon AU - Vincent Gouttebarge Y1 - 2021/11/01 UR - http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/55/22/1243.abstract N2 - The impact of mental health symptoms and disorders in elite athletes is increasingly recognised. This led the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to produce a consensus statement1 and establish a Mental Health Working Group. Members of this group have extensive experience in research and practice in the field of athlete mental health and have collectively ascertained gaps in current knowledge and practices. This editorial reflects the authors’ opinions and aims to provide researchers and practitioners with future directions relating to mental health symptoms and disorders in elite sport, focusing on prevalence/incidence, prevention, screening, assessment and treatment.The prevalence studies that are currently available have significant limitations,2 including the lack of data distinguishing mental health symptoms from disorders. The latter require a clinical assessment accounting for the intense and unique demands athletes face, which influence how symptoms and disorders may manifest. An example is the presence of mental health symptoms in overtrained athletes, how these are understood from perspectives such as low energy availability or impaired immune function and where existing classification systems may be inadequate.Studies are limited by the influence of stigma related to mental health symptoms and disorders both in and out of sporting contexts, which likely impact athletes’ responses and do not take account of additional barriers to reporting, specifically cultural barriers including sex, religion, … ER -