Depression or addiction in athletic training - a case study.

Abstract

Background. Although numerous studies underline the fact that sport helps reducing depressive symptoms, there are many different points of view. Beginning from 1976, specialized literature has emphasized the risks of positive addictions like sports, sexual intercourse and shopping. No screening method for exercise addiction has been developed yet, but first steps in this direction have been taken in the case of football and athletic races. Case studies show suggestive examples demonstrating that soon, there might be sufficient criteria to support the diagnosis of new psychiatric disorders such as "exercise addiction". Aims. A specific purpose of this study was the assessment of reciprocity between psychiatric disorder and performance in football. The general objective was to distinguish predisposing factors for suicidal behavior in this specific case. A secondary objective was refining the diagnosis of the teenager using the new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-V. Methods. Psychopathological parameters associated with the deterioration of athletic performance and the onset of suicidal behavior in the 19-year old football player of the "U-Cluj - Junior team" were analyzed using the Qualitative Method. The semi-structured interviews used for psychiatric diagnosis were: the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.) and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Disorders (SCID-II). Clinical scales were: the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) developed by Cloninger et al., the Beck Hopelessness Scale, the Life Events Scale by Holmes and Rahe, for the evaluation of the stress accumulated in the year preceding the suicide attempt. The case was evaluated in two distinct moments of time: in 2006, during psychiatric care after attempted suicide, and in 2013. Results. Athletic performance declined significantly, resulting in total abandon of all implications in football. The results of this case study analysis led to the refinement of the diagnosis in compliance with the new classifications of DSM-V: the diagnosis of dysthymia was completed by the specification "anxious distress". The diagnosis of exercise addiction was presumably present in 2006. This diagnostic presumption requires further discussions in light of suicidal vulnerability in the studied case. Conclusions. Dysthymia has a negative impact on athletic performance. Dysthymia as a comorbidity in exercise addiction leads to an increase in suicidal risk. (English) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]