Call for papers - The role of sports psychiatry in athlete well-being

Guest Editors

Haitham Jahrami, PhD, Arabian Gulf University, Bahrain
Brendon Stubbs, PhD, King's College London, United Kingdom
Khaled Trabelsi, PhD, University of Sfax, Tunisia

Submission Status: Open | Submission Deadline: 7 August 2025

BMC Psychiatry welcomes submissions to The role of sports psychiatry in athlete well-being Collection. This Collection aims to showcase research that explores the psychiatric challenges faced by athletes, effective interventions, and the role of mental health professionals in sports. By advancing our understanding of sports psychiatry, this Collection seeks to promote the mental well-being of athletes and enhance their overall performance.

New Content Item This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being.

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Meet the Guest Editors

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Haitham Jahrami, PhD, Arabian Gulf University, Bahrain

Dr Haitham Jahrami is the Chief of Rehabilitation Medicine Services at Government Hospitals in the Kingdom of Bahrain. He is also Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Arabian Gulf University. Dr Jahrami attained his PhD from University of Ulster in 2006. He also completed the GCSRT Program provided by Harvard Medical School in 2015. Dr Jahrami has expertise in systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Brendon Stubbs, PhD, King's College London, United Kingdom

Dr Brendon Stubbs' research focuses on lifestyle interventions, notably physical activity and mental health. Since 2019, Dr Stubbs has been ranked as one of the world’s most influential mental health researchers according to Clarivate™. Brendon has published over 800 academic papers, and his research has been cited over 68,000 times, informing many national and international policies. Brendon holds multiple Visiting Professor positions and an academic position at King's College London.

Khaled Trabelsi, PhD, University of Sfax, Tunisia

Dr Khaled Trabelsi earned his PhD in 2016 from the University of Carthage. Since 2012, he has been an Assistant Professor at the Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education at the University of Sfax. He also holds visiting professor positions at institutions such as the University of Magdeburg and the University of Omm el Bouaghi. Over the past 10 years, Khaled Trabelsi has published more than 200 articles in ISI-indexed journals in the fields of sport medicine, sleep medicine, and psychiatry.

About the Collection

BMC Psychiatry is calling for submissions to The role of sports psychiatry in athlete well-being Collection. This Collection aims to advance our understanding of how psychiatric disorders manifest in athletes and how mental health professionals can better diagnose, treat, and prevent these disorders, ultimately enhancing both mental well-being and athletic performance.

Sports psychiatry is an emerging field that explores the intersection of mental health and athletic performance. Athletes face significant psychological pressures, including stress, anxiety, depression, and trauma, all of which can affect their performance and quality of life. Understanding the psychiatric aspects of these challenges is essential for developing effective interventions. This Collection will focus on the identification, treatment, and prevention of psychiatric disorders in athletes, addressing their unique needs while also providing them with tools and techniques to optimize their mental health and, consequently, their performance.

We invite research submissions on topics including but not limited to:

The prevalence of anxiety, depression, and eating disorders among athletes, as well as the role of sports psychiatry in managing these conditions
Stressors unique to competitive environments, such as performance pressure, injury recovery, and career transitions
Psychiatric considerations in concussion management and long-term cognitive health in athletes
The role of psychiatric care in injury rehabilitation and recovery
The impact of gender, age, and cultural differences on athletes' mental health, with an emphasis on underrepresented groups
Substance use and addiction in athletic populations, including performance-enhancing drugs and recreational substances
Trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) resulting from high-contact sports or other sports-related experiences

The Collection will not only address psychiatric challenges but also highlight preventive measures and performance-enhancing strategies rooted in sound mental health practices.

This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being.

Image credit: © Jacob Wackerhausen / Getty Images / iStock

There are currently no articles in this collection.

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of original Research Articles. Should you wish to submit a different article type, please read our submission guidelines to confirm that type is accepted by the journal. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select The role of sports psychiatry in athlete well-being from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.