Sports Psychiatry ─ Strategies for Life Balance and Peak Performance

Although psychiatrists and other mental health clinicians interested in sports practice already have the necessary general skills to help competitive athletes deal with adversity and the multitude of emotions that sports can elicit, most typically they lack the sports-specific knowledge necessary to truly help these patients and clients. In Sports Psychiatry: Strategies for Life Balance and Peak Performance, the long-time team psychiatrist for the Baltimore Orioles and the Baltimore Ravens intends to remedy this knowledge gap by sharing his unique perspective and rare expertise in cultivating athletes' peak performance while promoting team unity, sound judgment, personal growth, pride, and a lasting sense of accomplishment.

The book: ? Explains sports culture and team structure and function, vividly describing the environment in which elite competition takes place? Focuses on the shifting nature and intensity of athletes' emotions -- the highs that come with success and the lows that accompany poor performance -- and describes the situations that magnify them, including injury and pain, media scrutiny, the availability of performance-enhancing drugs, and the fear of both failure and success? Addresses critical topics, such as regulating energy, recognizing and controlling stress, preparing mentally for performance, and treating mental disorders common to athletes? Draws on the author's length of experience and clinical observations, the evidence base of sports psychiatry, and fascinating stories of athletes at all levels to inform, teach, encourage, and inspire.

Although written for mental health professionals, the book will also be of great interest to primary care and sports medicine physicians, athletic trainers, team owners and managers -- and of course -- the athletes themselves. Engaging and insightful, Sports Psychiatry is the go-to book for those in need of practical strategies for supporting and attaining peak performance.

David R. McDuff, M.D., is the team psychiatrist and mental skills trainer for the Baltimore Orioles and the Baltimore Ravens. He is also Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine at the University of Maryland in Baltimore and Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland.