Psychological Health, Burnout, and Performance Psychology
This domain tests your ability to separate a form slump from a mental health problem, to apply performance psychology ethically, and to know when to refer. Items often present a declining player and ask what you do first.
Burnout versus depression
Burnout is context-bound and has three dimensions: exhaustion, cynicism or depersonalisation toward the sport, and reduced sense of accomplishment. It lifts when load and environment change. Depression is broader, persists across contexts, and includes low mood, anhedonia, sleep and appetite change, and worthlessness. Screening tools such as the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 are screens administered within scope; they are not diagnoses.
Performance psychology tools
- Pre-performance routines and cue words to stabilise attention.
- Arousal regulation: breathing, tempo, and physical reset strategies.
- Self-talk that is instructional rather than evaluative.
- Imagery rehearsal of specific in-game scenarios.
- Tilt management: a defined reset protocol between rounds or deaths, plus review after, not during.
- Team cohesion and communication norms, including how mistakes are called.
Worked example
A 19-year-old starter shows falling output, irritability, and two hours of extra solo queue after scrims to fix it. The first move is not a technique intervention. Screen for sleep, load, and safety including low mood and self-harm risk; quantify recent scrim and ranked hours; ask about team environment, harassment, and autonomy. If the presentation spans contexts and includes persistent low mood, refer to a licensed mental health professional and reduce load temporarily. If it is confined to the game and lifts with rest, it reads as burnout and the plan targets load, role clarity, and recovery.
Traps that cost marks
- Framing clinical symptoms as a mental toughness deficit.
- Coaching an athlete through likely depression rather than referring.
- Disclosing psychological screen results to coaches without consent.
- Ignoring harassment, contract insecurity, and loss of autonomy as burnout drivers.