Engagement in sport provides a great source of enjoyment for most athletes and improves the overall well-being of individuals. However, in today’s multi-million dollar sport industry, there is a substantial amount of pressure for an athlete to execute and succeed in professional sport (Hackfort & Huang, 2005).
They are required to maintain their optimal physical condition in order to perform to their greatest ability, and many professionals understand the importance of training hard and constantly working at their skills to improve them. In addition to excelling in physical condition, mental toughness and perseverance are traits that are instilled in athletes at a young age to diminish psychological barriers that may limit their performance. However, if an athlete is not able to balance multiple physical and psychological stressors at equilibrium, many repercussions may arise which prevents athletes from functioning at a peak state. As a consequence to this prolonged chronic stress, the athlete suffers from burnout (Schaufeli & Buunk, 2003).
Defining Burnout
Athletic burnout is recognized as a growing psychological problem that is increasingly becoming a major factor in negatively affecting the performance of athletes across a wide spectrum of sporting disciplines. Burnout is a psycho-physiological response that is characterized by physical and emotional exhaustion caused by excessive and perpetuating stress (Silva, 1990; Dale and Weinberg, 1990).
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... Athletes -young, old, professional, amateur, male and female- all experience burnout in different forms and degrees. Burnout is defined as the physical, emotional, and psychological ... performance plateau. Together with over training, staleness eventually leads to athlete burnout. In sports psychology, several models exist to help explain, prevent, and ...
It occurs when athletes feel overwhelmed and are unable to meet continual demands resulting in decreased sport performance, a reduced sense of accomplishment, and a decline in participation (Silva, 1990; Dale and Weinberg, 1990; Gustafsson, 2007).
This internal response usually inflicts athletes that ineffectively try to meet excessive training and competitive demands through high motivation and unrealistic goals (Silva, 1990).
Once affected, this stress reaction causes burned-out athletes to experience diminished enthusiasm and a decrease of interest and enjoyment in sports they previously adored, causing them to drop out (Cresswell & Eklund, 2003).
Depression, feelings of helplessness, and social withdrawal are few of many affective, cognitive, and behavioural consequences of burn out (Schaufeli & Enzmann, 1998).
Burnout consists of multiple factors that contribute to its occurrence, thus it is found to be multidimensional (Tenebaum, Jones, Kitsantas, Sacks, & Berwick, 2003).
While social interactions and training pose as major factors in burnout, burnout is also characterized by failure in adapting to stressful situations (Raedeke & Smith, 2004).
Burnout is noted to be an ongoing, latent process that results in unsuccessful attempts of diminishing stress. (Silva, 1990).
Stress is caused by social interactions, sport performances, physical demands, and internal and external demands; internal being unrealistic goals set by the athlete, and external demands being conflicts with others (Tenebaum, Jones, Kitsantas, Sacks, & Berwick, 2003).
However, not all athletes who experience stress will burn out.
Effects of Burnout
Burnout is a complex phenomenon that manifests over a prolonged period of time (Smith, 2007).
Because of the detrimental effects burnout has on an athlete’s performance and overall well-being, early detection is crucial (Smith, 2007).
Acknowledging and addressing early symptoms can prevent burnout as well as major breakdowns. Symptoms include increased anxiety, depression, helplessness, sense of failure, inability to concentrate, chronic fatigue, insomnia, hyperactivity, abandonment of activities, and boredom (Schaufeli & Enzman, 1998).
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“You are not Alone for I am here with You”: An Examination of Acculturative Stress, Interpersonal Social Support and Use of Online Ethnic Social Groups among Chinese International Students Paper submitted to the Communication and Technology Division of the International Communication Association for presentation at the annual conference, New Orleans, LA. Acculturative Stress, Interpersonal Network ...
Although there are many symptoms of burnout, a person usually does not show all of them (Burisch, 2006).
Prevention and Intervention
Strategies for preventing burnout emphasize techniques that help athletes control stress and adjust to the conditions of sport participation (Coakley, 1992).
This includes focusing training on improving all critical capacities which will increase the overall stress tolerance, and eliminating psychological and social stressors (Kellman, 2010; Hooper & Mackinnon, 1995).
The basic assumption understood by psychologists is that there is a correlation between recovery and stress; as stress increases, increased recovery time is necessary (Kellman, 2010).
However, burnout is amongst the repercussions that may form when there is an imbalancement between these two variables. Therefore to prevent burnout, athletes must learn to manage stress, set boundaries to prevent overextending, adopt healthy lifestyle habits, incorporate a balanced diet, and get proper exercise.
When action is not taken to prevent burnout and the athlete is pushed beyond their limit, it is important to take the necessary steps for the athlete to recover. The amount of time needed for an athlete to recover from burnout depends on several variables including the severity of the burnout, amount of social support given to the athlete, and the individual’s capacity to recover with the help of professional medical support such as a sports psychologist, nutritionist, and other personnel (Lehmann, Foster, Gastmann, Keizer, & Steinacker, 1999).
Seeking medical and social support, cutting back on commitments, and re-evaluating priorities are crucial in order for an athlete to fully recover.
Psychotherapeutic approaches such as group therapies that are focused on changing the ways in which an individual perceives and deals with situations are also recommended (Salmela-Aro et al., 2004).
Intervention programs have about 80% success rate with depreciating burnout, and may include online counselling, cognitive behaviour training, relaxation techniques, psycho-social skill training, communication training, and relaxation training (Awa, Plaumann, and Walter, 2009).
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Sports Psychology: A Relationship Between Mental Training and Sport Performance James Dodson (1995) quotes Dr. Richard Coop, and says that he refers to sports psychology as "just mere helping people to clear away the mental clutter that keeps them from achieving their best" (p. 1). Dodson admits that as a golfer he has tried to break eighty strokes in golf, but did not succeed until he got help ...
However, the most effective way to combat burnout is to postpone the activity, or take time off, in order to fully improve the state of mind and overall well-being of the individual (Kellman, 2010).
References
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People have been entertained by sport since before the gladiators in the Roman Coliseum. In the 20 th century, the publics' passion for sport consumes more and more of their free time. As sports figures became internationally recognized, athletes began to realize their need for professional representation. Thus, sports agents were born. The field of sports agents has grown since then into an ...
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