Sportsman’s psychological exhaustion syndrome: when pleasure disappears

Anne-Sophie is a fencer. She’s just 15, and this is her first year in a high-level training structure. She comes to see me occasionally, when she feels overwhelmed by the pressure of competition.

So far, she’s had an extraordinary season, which has surprised everyone and led to a string of selections, culminating in her qualification for the world championships.

“I don’t like my sport anymore. I’m going crazy.”

That day, 2 weeks before the competition, she was completely panicked. I know she’s sensitive and fragile, but right now she seems to be losing it. She cried her eyes out and told me she felt like she was going crazy.

Fencing has always been her passion, but for the past few days, she hasn’t enjoyed going out to train. It’s never happened to her before. It feels like a nightmare. She no longer recognizes herself, and is terrified that she may have lost her love of fencing for good.

Added to this is the fact that the world championships are only 15 days away, but that’s not her main concern.

Given the intensity of her distress, I think of the athlete’s psychological exhaustion syndrome. I talk to her about it, but my first adult words don’t make sense to her.

You can get indigestion from something you love

So I ask her if she likes chocolate, and she gives me a big YES, even smiling a little. I then ask her to imagine eating a bar of her favorite chocolate at every meal. Her eyes sparkle and she starts by telling me how great that would be!

I ask her if she’s sure and if she’d have the same joy at every meal. She thinks it over and finally answers, relieved: “I get it! I’d eat a bar without any problem for the first two meals, but after that I think I’ d already start to saturate and after two days I’d have no desire to eat that chocolate! And it’s the same with fencing, is that what you wanted to explain to me? “.

My answer is positive, and I go on to tell her that after two days, to regain the desire to eat her favorite chocolate, it would most certainly be necessary to take a break and stop eating it for a while. She draws the parallel, calms down and regains the hope of enjoying her favorite sport again.

The succession of selections has overloaded the calendar

Given his age, his distress and the stakes of the competition, I call his coach directly, with his agreement. He confirms that he’s seen that things aren’t going well at all in training, but he doesn’t understand what’s going on and doesn’t know what to do.

I put forward my hypothesis of psychological exhaustion syndrome, and he told me that Anne-Sophie had indeed taken part in a huge number of competitions this year, due to her completely unexpected performances. So there’s been no break, which wasn’t originally planned.

To turn things around, we’re banking on a complete shutdown

I explain to him that, given the intensity of the emotional and psychic signals, the only thing to try in my opinion is to stop him completely until the day before the competition, hoping that this time will be enough.

He remains silent for a moment, then speaks up: “Do you realize? For me, as a coach, it’s almost unthinkable. But I can see that things aren’t going well at all, and that we’re at an impasse. So I’m going to trust you. We’ll try this . “

I tell Anne-Sophie that she’ll be able to take a breather and think about something other than fencing. We think together about what might be good for her and help her disconnect. And we decide to meet again the following week to take stock.

A break is good for desire and pleasure

When she comes back to see me, she’s transformed, and tells me that she really needed this break, that she’s relieved, because she feels that her desire is coming back.

In the end, she resumed very light training three days before the start of the competition, and the pleasure was there, to her great delight!

Although Anne-Sophie’s story has a happy ending, it nevertheless raises these questions :

• What caused Anne-Sophie to develop athlete burnout syndrome?
• What can help prevent this syndrome?

What can lead to EPS syndrome

As you’ll have noticed, Anne-Sophie’s loss of motivation and pleasure was due to a competition schedule that became progressively denser, following her successive and unexpected successes.

Since she was a constant success, nobody paid any attention to her.

But at some point, the vase overflowed.

Psychological exhaustion syndrome in athletes is always a case of TOO MUCH, or NOT ENOUGH. Too much competition, not enough recovery. Especially emotionally. Too much grows little by little, until you reach saturation point. And that’s when you get fed up with the sport you usually love.

If we’re not careful, if we don’t detect the first signs, this disgust can manifest itself brutally. From one day to the next, the craving is gone. Some even speak of disgust.

The risk is that this disgust will lead to a definitive abandonment of the practice.

For Anne-Sophie, the sudden disappearance of pleasure was accompanied by a real sense of panic. Why was this? Because for her, fencing is “everything”. It’s what keeps her going, what occupies her time and her thoughts, what underpins her identity. She defines herself through her sport.

So when she realizes that she no longer feels like going to training, she loses her footing. It’s as if all her points of reference have collapsed. She says it best: “I don’t recognize myself anymore. This can’t be happening. This just isn’t me. I think I’ve gone mad.

Ideas for prevention

Understanding what led Anne-Sophie to sport-related emotional exhaustion syndrome helps us to identify two main avenues for prevention.

First track

The first is to listen to yourself, and if necessary rearrange your training and/or competition schedule if you feel that fatigue is setting in, or that pleasure is waning over several sessions in a row.

One way of doing this is to use the Positive Logbook I mentioned in this article. And in all cases, whatever the practice, it’s essential to incorporate several breaks of at least one week during the year, as well as a long break of at least 3 weeks. This allows you to recharge emotionally, while preserving your desire and pleasure.

If cutting out a week on a regular basis seems impossible, if it generates guilt, anxiety, or a feeling of emptiness, then it may be a good idea to consult a sports psychologist to talk about it. 😊

Second track

The second area of prevention is, as the saying goes, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”. Because it’s too risky. In my opinion, it’s absolutely essential to have a leisure activity that doesn’t involve the body.

Something we love, which helps us to escape, to unplug completely from everyday life. This can also be beneficial in the event of injury. The possibilities are numerous: DIY, board games, puzzles, photography, drawing, music, crochet, etc. Don’t hesitate to experiment, until you find what you really like!

It’s bound to be an excellent investment in balance and recovery, especially on an emotional level . 😉