Sport Psychiatry?

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WaterFlow

WaterFlow

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Hello!
I am very interested in becoming a sports medicine physician. Ortho is awesome but I am open to considering all specialties!

I am wondering if there are any psychiatrists out there who specialize in treating athletes/ work with sports teams at the college/ professional level?
If so how did you get involved in this area?
Are there fellowships for sport psychiatry?
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One of my attendings when I was a resident did some contract work with the local NFL team as their psychiatrist. It was not a full time job, just a side gig. Not enough volume to be a full time job and sports psychologists are less expensive in general for a team when medication is not necessary. My attending mentioned cannabis and other drug abuse was some of the more frequent concerns.
 
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wolfvgang22 said:
One of my attendings when I was a resident did some contract work with the local NFL team as their psychiatrist. It was not a full time job, just a side gig. Not enough volume to be a full time job and sports psychologists are less expensive in general for a team when medication is not necessary. My attending mentioned cannabis and other drug abuse was some of the more frequent concerns.
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Thank you for your reply! Perhaps medication would be more common at the collegiate level?
 
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The people who are treating athletes' mental disorders are not necessarily the same people who are providing individual and team performance enhancement interventions. The latter is more often done by psychologists.
 
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MamaPhD said:
The people who are treating athletes' mental disorders are not necessarily the same people who are providing individual and team performance enhancement interventions. The latter is more often done by psychologists.
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Thank you for your reply! I understand that psychologists will do more of the performance and therapy side of things.
I was more curious if there are psychiatrist who specialize in the med side and Illness. Management side of athletes. It could be helpful to have one working with teams that is an expert in athletics.
 
WaterFlow said:
Thank you for your reply! I understand that psychologists will do more of the performance and therapy side of things.
I was more curious if there are psychiatrist who specialize in the med side and Illness. Management side of athletes. It could be helpful to have one working with teams that is an expert in athletics.
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Definitely. Especially for problems like eating disorders, substance use disorders, brain injury, etc. and the particular manifestations of these disorders in high performance athletes.

You might look into this organization: International Society for Sports Psychiatry - Home
 
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Sports addiction psychiatry does exist and a number of people do this kind of work. It's more about marketing than formal training though. Larry Westreich is well known in this field.
 
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sluox said:
Sports addiction psychiatry does exist and a number of people do this kind of work. It's more about marketing than formal training though. Larry Westreich is well known in this field.
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Thank you!
 
I see potential for this to be a growing niche specialty whether that be working as a part-time consultant for pro/college athletics or doing private practice with endurance/recreational athletes. There are many ways sports psychiatry can be done but probably will require a bit of creativity, good marketing (like someone said), and networking. Working in a college mental health setting would be a good pathway to this type of work. ISSP has some mentoring opportunities and an online certification program. You'll likely have to be a trailblazer though which may or may not be an attractive idea.
 
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Obviously I can't contribute to the professional tips but from the personal side, as a high-level college athlete I always wished that I had access to mental health professionals who were knowledgeable about athletics (and our limitations with regard to drug tests, taking sedating meds, etc). I faced quite a few difficult issues, and it was hard to connect with psychiatrists who didn't understand the demands of athletics. I also had teammates struggle to find appropriate care for a variety of issues, so a sports psychiatrist would have been very welcome.
 
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ekmf27050 said:
Obviously I can't contribute to the professional tips but from the personal side, as a high-level college athlete I always wished that I had access to mental health professionals who were knowledgeable about athletics (and our limitations with regard to drug tests, taking sedating meds, etc). I faced quite a few difficult issues, and it was hard to connect with psychiatrists who didn't understand the demands of athletics. I also had teammates struggle to find appropriate care for a variety of issues, so a sports psychiatrist would have been very welcome.
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ekmf27050 said:
Obviously I can't contribute to the professional tips but from the personal side, as a high-level college athlete I always wished that I had access to mental health professionals who were knowledgeable about athletics (and our limitations with regard to drug tests, taking sedating meds, etc). I faced quite a few difficult issues, and it was hard to connect with psychiatrists who didn't understand the demands of athletics. I also had teammates struggle to find appropriate care for a variety of issues, so a sports psychiatrist would have been very welcome.
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Thank you for your insight!
 
I wonder how much of “sports psychiatry” practice is simply diagnosis and prescription of stimulants for “adult” ADHD.


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keifernny2 said:
I wonder how much of “sports psychiatry” practice is simply diagnosis and prescription of stimulants for “adult” ADHD.


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(Not a physician yet but I do have a background in high-level athletics) I would think ADHD probably is a large part of it.
I also think you would see cases of depression anxiety, mood disorders, substance abuse/ addiction, insomnia, and combinations of these. I think it would be ideal to have a psychiatrist who is knowledgeable and understands the complex dynamics and rules of athletic governing bodies (NCAA, Olympic, etc), athlete performance pressures/ requirements, and team/ coach relationships.
 
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keifernny2 said:
I wonder how much of “sports psychiatry” practice is simply diagnosis and prescription of stimulants for “adult” ADHD.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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There's decent money to be made doing ADHD waivers for professional sports, I know one person (neuropsychologist) who does it. Not sure if there's any additional money for the script part of things, though.
 
keifernny2 said:
I wonder how much of “sports psychiatry” practice is simply diagnosis and prescription of stimulants for “adult” ADHD.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
From the female athlete side, it was a lot of eating disorders due to the focus on our size. Depression and anxiety also played a role, obviously.

It's hard to manage a purging disorder when exercise, a common form of purging, is literally in the job description.
 
I would imagine concussions could related to sports psychiatry. Sports medicine docs are able to get board certified in brain injury medicine.
 
I have worked with both amateur and professional athletes who needed better focus when competing. Hypnosis can be very effective in helping people compete free of anxiety,
 
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