ABSTRACT

Psychological problems can have an extremely negative impact on performance. Psychological problems often have both a genetic component and a stress or learned component. Different types of psychological problems often come together as a package of sorts. Anxiety, a common psychological problem, can be defined as excessive worry. It can come in many forms including panic attacks and obsessive-compulsive disorder (although this is no longer necessarily considered an anxiety disorder per se). Depression is also quite common and can affect people differently depending on the severity. Substance use can also interfere with performance. Substance use includes the abuse of alcohol, amphetamines, opiates, and marijuana. Zack Greinke is a great example of how one can overcome mental illness in order to go on to excel in sport.