MONDAY, Oct. 28, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Repeated concussions dramatically increase a hockey player’s risk of depression and burnout, a new study warns.

Hockey players who’d suffered three or more concussions had twice the risk of depression symptoms than whose who’d never had a concussion, researchers found.

They also faced three and a half times the risk of burnout symptoms, results showed.

Concussion caused these effects in both male and female players, the researchers noted.

“Other studies have shown that women experience more short-term symptoms after a concussion than men, but it was interesting that the link between concussion and heightened prevalence of symptoms of depression, anxiety and burnout was equally strong for both sexes,” said lead researcher Mitchell Andersson, a doctoral student in psychiatry at Lund University in Sweden.

“This might indicate that the long-term neuropsychiatric recovery process is more similar in men and women than the short-term process,” Andersson added in a university news release.

For the study, researchers surveyed nearly 650 active hockey players in Sweden’s top hockey divisions.

They found that more than 1 in 4 men and nearly 1 in 5 women reported having suffered three or more concussions.

Both men and women had a higher risk of depression if they’d suffered repeated concussions, researchers found.

Athletes with at least three concussions were also 3.5 times more likely to develop burnout as those with none, and twice as likely as those who’d had one or two concussions, researchers found.

Burnout symptoms included exhaustion, stress, difficulty concentrating, irritability, problems performing under pressure and sleep disturbances, researchers said.

The study also found that hockey players of both genders report drinking alcohol at hazardous levels, Andersson said.

“Hockey players are physically slightly larger, and are perhaps able to drink a little more. Their own view of themselves, and that of others, may be that they are a bit tougher than others,” Andersson said. “There can be a sense of pride in being part of such a subculture. Romanticizing alcohol can be a part of it, for both men and women.”

Unfortunately, that same tough-guy image might contribute to male players underreporting possible mental health issues, researchers said.

On the other hand, a higher proportion of female players report burnout symptoms even without concussion, possibly because they are paid less to play and have to juggle hockey with their day jobs, results showed.

The new study was published recently in the journal BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation.

“Swedish hockey players at elite level need to know where and how they can get help. There is help available aimed at this target group,” Andersson said.

“Imagine that you are an elite athlete who trains regularly, eats healthily, earns good money from the sport you love -- and yet you are still struggling. Can you imagine how frightening and isolating that must feel? Not having to feel alone in your state of mind is important,” Andersson concluded.

More information

Mental Health UK has more on burnout.

SOURCE: Lund University, news release, Oct. 25, 2024