worse under pressure and others train to perform the same under pressure as they would when not under pressure the idea that athletes perform better under pressure popularised by movies where you see some super heroic win at some poignant last moment are few and far between in fact they are so rare you could probably pin them down to luck authors hendrie weisinger and pawliwfri in their book performing under pressure the science of doing your best when it matters most speak of pressure to perform as arising from various sources for a young mind they say the goal should be to lessen the injurious effects of this pressure on the mind because one cannot really control the sources of pressurepressure management the howaccording to science if you are training to be an athlete you also need to be trained in what is called a pressure mind shifts this involves doing away with the myth of being a superhero or of rising to the occasion last minute this trying too hard negatively affects performance instead in pressure management the idea is to employ behavioural techniques to inoculate an athlete against pressure much like you can inoculate yourself against infections by taking vaccinations cognitive reframing of an athletes internal dialogue is meticulously done by psychologists they are also trained to not become defensive when criticised amongst other thingswho is most at risk for suicidea popular psychology book on suicide in professional and amateur athletes by david lester and john gunn details psychological strain in athletes it highlights the attitude of deliver or suffer in tournaments and outlines the risk factors for suicide as being steroid or substance misuse concussions or traumatic brain injury and psychiatric disorders it also warns of the psychological effects of losing a game dealing with social pressures trolling and bad press loneliness and strained relationships underlying all of this is a stigma that can make it difficult for athletes to approach their coaches or teammates for helpsaid one of my clients what if the coach thinks im weak and not good enough i wont make the national team i have worked so hard to get here years of no sleep not even a bar of chocolate its best i say nothing to add to the strain he stressed on the fact that he had no friends outside of his competitive sports circle he had lost his childhood because of constantly being on the field he had missed school he had missed birthdays and celebrations on account of putting sports first and he had to deal with the politics of competing at 16 he had been seriously depressed after losing out on an opportunity and did not know whom to go to and share his pain he was convinced the decision taken against him was unfair he started to lose weight lose motivation lose sleep and lose the will to live his entire identity as a sportsman was being questioned as a result of this one loss