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Media Relations

Psychological clues to athletic overtraining syndrome

Competitive athletes who undergo hard training can become their own most formidable opponent when mood disturbances such as clinical depression -- caused by an intensive training regimen -- bring their competition and training to a halt for weeks or months.

Coaches and exercise scientists have known for decades about overtraining syndrome -- also called staleness syndrome -- but have yet to discover a way to detect the condition early on when treatment is simpler. Testing the psyche, however, is showing promise, said John Raglin, a psychologist in the Indiana University Bloomington Department of Kinesiology.

Raglin, who discussed mood-state monitoring of athletes at the American College of Sport Medicine national conference earlier this year, conducts research on exercise and sport. While testing biological markers has proven ineffective as well as impractical because of the invasive nature of the tests and costs, relatively inexpensive psychological assessments in the form of questionnaires could give athletes, trainers and coaches a way to detect the syndrome before it becomes full-blown. Raglin said this could require the services of psychologists trained to administer and interpret such tests. While this approach is uncommon in the United States, athletes and coaches in other countries have begun using this psychological tactic.

• Background: Research Raglin conducted with several hundred young athletes has shown that even children as young as 12 have experienced this devastating condition. Athletes suffering from staleness syndrome no longer can compete at their customary levels, even after training has been reduced or stopped for a brief period. Staleness also is associated with a long list of symptoms that include medical illnesses, such as infectious disorders, and psychological disturbances, depression in particular, that are far more severe than typical daily stresses. Raglin said on average 10 percent to 15 percent of competitive athletes who train rigorously -- six or more hours a day -- will develop staleness syndrome. Such an athlete has a 33 percent chance of developing staleness syndrome during the course of his or her career. The risk for elite athletes could be twice as high, Raglin said. These rates were determined by studying endurance-sport athletes such as swimmers and runners, but Raglin said intensive training and conditioning is common in many more sports, so the risk is growing.

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