Breaking a taboo: why the International Olympic Committee convened experts to develop a consensus statement on mental health in elite athletes

Mental health symptoms and disorders are ubiquitous in society and are too often underdiagnosed and undermanaged—or worse, ignored. We speak of mental health symptoms and disorders as if they are somehow separate from other ‘physical’ symptoms, injuries and illnesses. Mental health symptoms and disorders and other physical symptoms, injuries and illnesses are intertwined yet artificially separated by diagnostic criteria that perpetuate a...