Sport psychiatry and psychotherapeutic intervention, circa 2016.

The focus of this paper is to provide an update on the use of psychotherapy as a treatment in sport psychiatry, and the use of this approach to address common psychiatric issues encountered with this population. Specifically, family therapy, individual therapy, and group psychotherapy prescribed alone, or in combination with medication, will be examined as methods to manage issues/disorders often associated with athletes. These include obsessive-compulsive rituals and perfectionism, and aggressive and risky behaviours, such as gambling, infidelity, substance use, and suicidal ideation, narcissism, and aggression in the context of individual and team competitive sports.

Managing psychiatric issues in elite athletes.

OBJECTIVE: Providing psychiatric consultation to elite athletes presents unique and complex issues. These patients present with multifaceted medical, psychological, and performance concerns. We provide the first report of professional and ethical quandaries that arise in treating elite athletes and ways to address them. METHOD: We identified studies through a MEDLINE search. Search terms included the following, individually and in combination: psychiatry, athletes, elite athletes, professional athletes, sports, sport psychiatry, mental illness, major depressive disorder, depression, bipolar disorder, suicide, anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, social phobia, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, specific phobia, psychosis, eating disorders, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, substance abuse, substance dependence, addiction, alcohol, anabolic steroids, stimulants, antidepressants, mood stabilizers, anxiolytics, antipsychotics, sedative-hypnotics, psychotropics, medications, and psychiatric medications. We restricted results to the English language and used no date restrictions. We retrieved all articles discussing psychiatric diagnosis or psychiatric treatment of athletes. We reviewed each article's findings to see if they applied to elite athletes and reviewed the references of each article for additional articles that had been missed in the initial search and that might include findings relevant to the scope of our article. Our search found no controlled data to guide treatment in working with elite athletes. We describe the literature that does exist and present 4 case examples to illustrate diagnostic and treatment issues with elite athletes. RESULTS: Patient and family characteristics are described as they bear on treatment context. The key pitfalls that interfere with treatment are listed, and clinical guidelines to improve outcomes are suggested. Specific key pitfalls that interfere with treatment include elite athletes' expecting "special treatment," issues of flexibility in treatment to accommodate travel schedules and the need for privacy, and inclusion of coaches and significant others in treatment. Recommendations for working with this population include being flexible within reason about timing of sessions, involving family members when relationship issues are involved, and not compromising on delivering the appropriate treatment, including medications and hospitalizations as necessary. CONCLUSIONS: The challenges of treating the elite athlete are great, but successful treatment is possible.

Psychiatric conditions in cosmetic surgery patients.

Beauty is important. As psychiatrists, we see the interface of beauty with mental health, self-esteem, and mental illness. As physicians who enhance cosmetic appearance, you encounter a broad spectrum of patients ranging from those with a healthy pursuit of enhanced appearance to those whose behavior is extremely maladaptive. This article provides some examples of unhealthy pursuit and how to recognize patients who may be inappropriate for cosmetic procedures. Patients with body dysmorphic disorder and narcissistic and histrionic personality disorders are suffering from psychiatric illnesses that interfere with their judgment and can lead them to make poor choices when considering cosmetic procedures. Clinicians who acquire a basic understanding of these psychiatric conditions can properly screen their patients and enhance their understanding of their patients' goals, both realistic and unrealistic, thus saving them from performing inappropriate procedures that cause frustration to both the clinician and the patient.

The use of photodynamic therapy in dermatology: results of a consensus conference.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has significant promise in improving outcomes of patients with a variety of cutaneous conditions. A group of experts met to review the principles, indications, and clinical benefits of PDT with 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA). They also reviewed PDT with methyl aminolevulinate. The experts established consensus statements for pretreatment, posttreatment, ALA contact time, light sources, and numbers of sessions associated with ALA PDT for actinic keratosis and superficial basal cell carcinoma, photorejuvenation and cosmetic enhancement, acne, sebaceous skin, rosacea, and rhinophyma. They based consensus recommendations on their clinical experience and the medical literature. They also suggested future applications of ALA PDT. Experts concluded that ALA PDT is a safe and effective modality for the treatment of conditions commonly encountered in dermatology. Since downtime is minimal, the technique is suitable for patients of all ages and lifestyles. Appropriate light sources are available in many dermatology offices. The expanding clinical and financial benefits of PDT justify the purchase of an appropriate light source.

Family Problems and Sports Performance: The Role of Couple's Therapy in Treating Athletes and Their Families.

The incidence of psychiatric disorders and family problems in elite athletes is probably similar to that of the general population, yet, for a variety of reasons, athletes and their families rarely seek treatment. Athletic performance may be affected by problems in a marriage or home life, as in this case of a high-profile athlete whose wife abused medications and alcohol to cope with a depressive disorder and anxiety. Clinicians who treat athletes should be aware of family dynamics that may affect performance and be willing to suggest interventions, such as individual and marital psychotherapy, medication, or both.