Examples:
- One marker of depression is a loss of interest in activities that were previously pleasurable. A person with depression typically ceases doing the activities, but an athlete may respond almost the opposite and "work harder" or overinvest in more activities as an escape.
- Exercise is frequently recommended for people with depression, but athletes appear not to respond to the serotonin boost from exercise.
- Depression may be harder to detect in athletes because they are used to handling pain and hiding signs of weakness, so their facial expression may not resemble a typical depressed affect.
Tests for depression may still accurately diagnose an athlete with depression, and the predictive test in the previous post may still predict, but this is an area in need of further research.
Does anyone know of a well-known athlete who has publically disclosed battling depression?
In my opinion I think athletes don't show depression in the same way because most athletes are somewhat driven individuals. They also get their feedback, reinforcement, and acceptance stimuli in different ways. Therefore, while they may be depressed, they 'go through the motions' and still may be higher functioning than the 'normal' person who is depressed. Depending on circumstances an athlete may not be allowed to vary his or her routine very much due to practices and competitions; and the focus of the athlete is drawn more outward...team, performance, goals, training, etc...than others. This contributes to athletes 'showing' depression in a different fashion that isn't traditionally, or DSM-IV, recognized.
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