Issues in Sport 2024: Mental Health (Life After Sport)

By drawing on evidence-based research and expert insights, we will try to detail why you should, and how you can, prepare for your career transition, while our case studies from other athletes will offer relatable stories and practical advice.

When elite athletes blow the whistle on their careers, many struggle with depression, unemployment and a lack of a sense of purpose. So how can we help sportspeople to adapt?

While many people have only just set foot on their desired career path in their late 20s and early 30s, for professional athletes it is already time to think about their ‘career after retirement’. There is a variety of paths available for former sportspeople, and here we explore some of them.

Sports retirement is often a major life transition for an athlete and can therefore be a major psychological challenge. Feelings of depression and loss, worry about the future, and low life satisfaction are common in retiring athletes.

The purpose of the present study was to assess the relation between the perception of bodily changes after retirement from elite sport and physical self and global self-esteem, in retired elite athletes.

The aim of this article is to raise awareness, amongst strength and conditioning coaches, of the
challenges that may be encountered by elite athletes as they transition into retirement from their
sport.

Most former athletes will experience changes in their self-definition and everyday behaviors as they accept a nonathletic way of life. The present study aimed to identify discrepancies between actual and former athletes regarding athletic identity, physical activity (PA), and nutrition habits.

Participation in sport is associated with numerous physical and psychological health benefits, but also can have negative consequences, such as career ending injuries, which may have long-term effects on mental health. Recent research suggests that involuntary retirement, due to injury, illness, or being cut from a sport, can be particularly detrimental. As such, this review focuses on the impact athletic retirement has on the psychological well-being of collegiate athletes.

Rugby union and rugby league are popular team contact sports, but they bring a high risk of injury. Although previous studies have reported injury occurrence across one or several seasons, none have explored the total number of injuries sustained across an entire career. As the first to do so, the aim of this study was to report on cumulative injuries and their perceived long-term impact in retired rugby code athletes compared to athletes from non-contact sports.

Adverse long-term effects of playing football due to repetitive head impact exposure on neurocognition and mental health are controversial. To date, no studies have evaluated such effects in women.

This chapter considers how sport psychologists initially approached the topic of sport retirement and how their conceptualizations have evolved to a more holistic perspective to understand athletes' experiences. Using this holistic approach, the chapter provides an overview of how factors, occurring at different levels in elite athletes' development, can influence this end-of-career transition.

The majority of participants in this study indicated that they lacked support from their sporting club and governing bodies
both during their transition and in retirement. Planning for retirement and preparing for the future positively affected their ability
to flourish in retirement.