Kelly MacDonald dreams of Olympic glory. But when her Canadian diving teammates competed at the Beijing games, MacDonald was absent. on the Diving Plongeon Canada website states that she has been 鈥渟idelined with injuries鈥�.
However, this week, MacDonald has spoken out for the first time about the real reason for her interrupted athletic career: , or OCD.
Elite athletes often adhere to rituals and superstitions, which may help them control anxiety (see our round-up of sports star superstitions). An obsessive nature may also keep an athlete training after others call it a day. But when do these traits veer into illness? That was the question raised on 18 May at the annual meeting of the , in a session held to raise awareness of what may be an unrecognised epidemic.
Advertisement
Rituals rule
OCD is a form of anxiety disorder, in which sufferers are compelled to perform time-consuming behaviours to control their sense of dread.
In MacDonald鈥檚 case, what began as a brief series of actions to gain composure 鈥� clearing her throat, tapping her leg and blinking at certain steps on her approach 鈥� eventually left her stuck on the diving board, unable to calm down. 鈥淥ne by one, her dives went to pieces,鈥� says , a psychiatrist at North York General Hospital in Toronto, and a member of Diving Plongeon Canada鈥檚 governing board.
Worse, MacDonald was utterly miserable. 鈥淣othing felt right to me,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 was always crying and never smiling.鈥�
Marks recognised the problem, and referred MacDonald first to a Canadian OCD specialist, and then to of Mind Matters, a psychiatric clinic in Beaverton, Oregon.
Today, after treatment for both OCD and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, MacDonald is diving once more, and hopes to return to competition. 鈥淢y future goal is the Olympics,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 want to try for 2012 in London.鈥�
Patients with OCD are taught to substitute their repetitive behaviours with relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, focusing on a soothing word, or envisioning a calming scene. Athletes work well at this, says Conant-Norville, although it is often hard to discuss where their anxiety comes from. 鈥淎thletes are really good at goal-setting,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not generally very good at talking about their feelings.鈥�
Pros and cons
Another of Conant-Norville鈥檚 patients is collegiate basketball player Sam Glasgow, whose obsessive traits have both enhanced and hampered his career.
At 6 feet 3 inches, he is short for a basketball player. But what Glasgow lacks in aerial firepower he makes up for in shots from distance and free throws. This stems from an obsessive nature that makes it hard to walk away from the practice court. 鈥淚 like to make a series of shots 鈥� maybe 10 in a row 鈥� before I leave,鈥� he says.
The downside to his behaviour is that Glasgow鈥檚 compulsive behaviour can consume up to 45 minutes each time he leaves home or the gym, as he checks and rechecks that he has all his belongings.
When he joined the basketball squad of St Martin鈥檚 University in Lacey, Washington, last summer, these symptoms got so bad that he had to return home to Portland, Oregon, before the end of pre-season training 鈥� even though he was still performing well on the court. 鈥淲hen I came back I was just really a mess,鈥� he says.
Glasgow is also on the road to recovery, and hopes to return to St Martin鈥檚 later this year. But the psychiatrists behind this week鈥檚 session worry that other sufferers may be forced to leave the sports they love.
Antonia Baum, a psychiatrist at George Washington University in Washington, DC, hopes that MacDonald and Glasgow鈥檚 stories will encourage other athletes to seek treatment 鈥� and stimulate research into the occurrence of OCD in sports. 鈥淭here is a dearth of data,鈥� she says.
