What Is Sports Psychiatry?
Sports psychiatry is a medical specialty that focuses on the mental health of athletes. It helps athletes with mental health challenges that affect their performance. Mental health plays a major role in how you train and compete.
Sports psychiatrists are medical doctors who specialize in how your mind and body work together. They diagnose and treat mental health conditions using a combined approach:
- Medical care
- Medication management
- Psychotherapy
- Lifestyle and behavioral changes
We also help you prepare for the recovery process, heal from injury, and return to your sport.
University of Utah Health Sports Psychiatry Clinic
Our Sports Psychiatry Clinic is a short-term program designed to achieve goals. Our clinic offers specialized care that is difficult to find elsewhere. We work closely with sports medicine teams. Our team includes athletic trainers, physical therapists, sports performance staff, surgeons, and sports medicine physicians. This team-based approach ensures your mental and physical health are treated together. You’ll receive coordinated, comprehensive care through the entire injury and recovery process.
We work with athletes and sports medicine patients facing a specific sport or injury-related challenge. We specialize in helping you through performance anxiety, mental health challenges, and more. Our goal is to help you prepare, adapt, and recover. We help you build skills that support your long-term mental health.
Sports Psychiatry vs. Sports Psychology
Both sports psychologists and sports psychiatrists help athletes manage mental health concerns. The key difference is medical training and scope of care.
Sports Psychologists Focus on Key Areas:
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Stress, burnout, performance anxiety, and mental blocks
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Talk therapy, mental skills training, visualization, and coping strategies
Sports Psychiatrists Offer Additional Expertise:
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Medical evaluation of mental health symptoms
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Diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric conditions
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Care for mental health challenges related to sport, injury, surgery, or overtraining
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Medication management with careful attention to effects on performance
Why Choose U of U Health?
Conditions We Treat
We care for more than mental health challenges related to injury and recovery. We also care for performance stress and sudden changes in training or competition. We provide support and care for several common conditions and situations:
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Mental health challenges after injury or surgery like depression or anxiety are common. We also care for fear of re-injury or returning to play, frustration, loss of confidence, and others.
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Adjustment reactions such as emotional distress related to injury, role changes, and more
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Performance-related anxiety that interferes with training and competition
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Overtraining and recovery-related mood changes from intense training, stress, or inadequate recovery
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Sleep disturbances related to injury, travel, pain, or competition schedules
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Stress and burnout symptoms such as loss of enjoyment or emotional fatigue
When to See a Sports Psychiatrist
Athletes face unique pressures, expectations, and physical demands. We have unique training to support you. You may benefit from seeing us if you experience any troubling symptoms:
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Ongoing anxiety or excessive worry about your ability to perform
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Mood changes that affect your ability to train or compete
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You have a difficult injury and/or difficult recovery process.
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Perfectionism that disrupts your performance or recovery
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Ongoing sleep issues
It’s common to experience some of these symptoms every so often. If they worsen or interfere with your routine, professional care can help. Many athletes return to their prior level of function with time and targeted care. Our goal is help you gain the skills you need to return to your best as soon as possible.
How Do Injuries Affect Athletes’ Mental Health?
Sports are a big part of your identity for many athletes. Being sidelined from your sport for any reason can cause depression, anxiety, or other concerns. Exercise is a tool many people use to manage stress. When an injury limits your ability to train, you may struggle with sleep, focus, motivation, or negative thoughts.
Injuries are one of the most common reasons why athletes seek sports psychiatry care. Athletes of all levels and backgrounds can experience emotional and psychological symptoms.
Our Sports Psychiatrist
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Bridger R. Battaglia
Make an Appointment
We know how important it is to have convenient and easy access to treatment. Our sports psychiatrist offers in-person visits at the University Orthopaedic Center. We also provide Telehealth visits.
You need a referral to see our sports psychiatry team. Your health care provider can submit a referral online or call us at 1-866-850-8863. All medical records should be faxed to 801-581-4404.
What to Expect at Your Sports Psychiatry Appointment
Your first visit lasts about an hour. Your psychiatrist will ask you about your physical and mental health:
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Personal and family medical and mental health history
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Concerns and symptoms
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How your symptoms are affecting your routine
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Your background and specific goals
You and your psychiatrist work together to make a personalized care plan. Treatment may include lifestyle recommendations, performance-oriented psychotherapy, medication, or a combination of approaches.
Follow-up visits are tailored to your specific needs. Most athletes have three to eight visits. After these visits, we coordinate next steps to support your long-term wellbeing.
Treatments to Support Mental Health in Athletes
Together, you and your provider will build a personalized care plan based on your goals, sport, and needs. Your treatment may include one or more options:
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Medical care—An injury, surgery, or change in training affects your brain and body. A medical evaluation helps ensure you receive the care you need.
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Psychiatric and psychotherapeutic— We'll help you learn to identify and change unhelpful thought patterns and behaviors.
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Medication management—Medications can treat depression, anxiety, and other mental health disorders. Your provider will consider how medication may affect your energy, metabolism, and performance. They’ll find the one that works best for you.
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Lifestyle optimization—Nutrition, sleep, stress management and other factors influence your mental health. We can guide you on healthy routines, recovery strategies, and mindfulness practices.
Physical Therapy Clinics
Optimizing Your Performance and Treating Sports Injuries
When it comes to performance, you set ambitious goals. But you can't get in top shape without practice. Whether you dance, golf, or ski, our athletic trainers and sports medicine doctors work with you to improve your balance, agility, and endurance. We analyze your strokes, strides, and moves to help you become faster, stronger, and more skilled so you can be at the top of your game.