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Mental Health Manifestations of Concussion

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Mental Health in the Athlete

Abstract

Mental health-related symptoms are common following concussion with approximately 30% of athletes reporting symptoms such as anxiety and mood disturbance. There is growing agreement that anxiety/mood issues represent a distinct clinical profile or subtype of concussion. Both anxiety and depressed mood have been associated with poor outcomes and longer recovery time following this injury. Depression and anxiety following concussion typically occur at subclinical levels. However, sometimes these issues may become clinical and evolve into more complex phenomena such as functional neurological and somatic symptom disorders, malingering, or suicide in rare cases. Determining the etiology of these symptoms can be challenging, as concussion often serves as a “door opener” for athletes to discuss or address other mental health conditions under the guise of concussion treatment. Fear and anxiety associated with perceived though not empirically based long-term effects of concussion may also exacerbate anxiety and mood issues for many athletes following their injury. The purpose of this chapter is to review key mental health issues that athletes may face following concussion within the context of a conceptual framework that emphasizes targeted behavioral management and treatment for these issues. The chapter also explores the etiology of mental health issues and analyzes how they often overlap with other concussion profiles or subtypes, and includes a case illustration that demonstrates common mental health issues following concussion.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Pittsburgh, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Anthony P. Kontos

  2. UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Anthony P. Kontos & Kouros Emami

  3. University of Pittsburgh, Department of Psychiatry, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Raymond Pan

Authors
  1. Anthony P. Kontos
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  2. Raymond Pan
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  3. Kouros Emami
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Correspondence to Anthony P. Kontos .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Medicine and Department of Orthopaedics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

    Eugene Hong

  2. Department of Family Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Ashwin L. Rao

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Kontos, A.P., Pan, R., Emami, K. (2020). Mental Health Manifestations of Concussion. In: Hong, E., Rao, A. (eds) Mental Health in the Athlete. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44754-0_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44754-0_12

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