Hafrún Kristjánsdóttir
Reykjavík University, Iceland
Dr. Hafrun Kristjánsdóttir is a psychologist, associate professor, and Chair of the Sports Science department of Reykjavík University. Her researches and publications have been mainly on mental health issues and psychological skills training. Kristjánsdóttir has been working with elite athletes and teams since 2005. She went as Team Iceland psychologist to the Rio and London Olympic games and will also be at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Kritjánsdóttir was a handball player herself and played for the Icelandic National Team for a few years.
Athletes’ mental health problems and Interventions
Hafrún Kristjánsdóttir
University of Reykjavík, Iceland
Athletes appear to be very healthy physically, and so people assume that they must be healthy emotionally as well. In addition, athletes are often idealized, seemingly immune to problems. However, research has shown that mental health problems among athletes are at least as common as among the general public. In this lecture, mental health problems among athletes and their prevalence will be discussed as well as sport-specific risk factors for mental health problems. One of them is help-seeking intention. For treatment perspective, athletes’ tendency to seek help when they experience mental health symptoms is essential. Research findings have suggested that athletes may have less positive attitudes towards help-seeking than non-athletes. When athletes seek help, it is of great importance that they receive evidence-based treatments. Evidence-based treatments for depression, anxiety, and eating disorders will be presented and research findings on mental health treatments for athletes
