Becoming a world-class athlete requires many years of deliberate, high quality training. Many athletes at the elite level have been described as having a "fire burning" for their sport, probably a necessity to be able to tolerate the required high levels of training for a number of years. This strong motivation or even passion for their sport might also be a possible risk of burnout. One of the main risk factors are perfectionistic strivings, especially in combination with an ego oriented motivational climate. Burnout is often defined by three main symptoms. First, emotional/physical exhaustion, which is the central symptom of burnout, and is related to stress associated with intense training and competitive demands. Second, reduced sense of athletic accomplishment is manifested in a perception of low ability with regard to performance and sport skill level. Finally, sport devaluation manifests itself in a loss of motivation, with the athlete ceasing to care about his or her previously beloved sport. Although tentative estimates, research indicate that might be a serious problem with an estimated prevalence of 1-12% and severe burnout symptoms around 1-2%. For prevention, supporting psychological needs (autonomy, competence and relatedness) might be effective. Furthermore, ego involving motivational climate induced by coaches, peers, and parents is likely to affect burnout symptoms and therefore educational interventions can potentially be useful. Although there are no studies of treatment in athletes suffering from more severe symptoms the findings from other areas show the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) based interventions for stress reduction and to alleviate burnout symptoms.
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