Endurance Unlimited Season 5 Ep 7 — Mental Health Disorders in Ultra Endurance Athletes With Jill Colangelo
5 snips
Jul 19, 2023 AI Snips
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Personal Overtraining Crash That Sparked Research
- Jill Colangelo developed her research interest after experiencing severe overtraining syndrome herself.
- She crashed around 2015–2016 after moving to California, doing triathlon then ultras, and burning the candle for years before recognizing the problem.
Mental Health Risk Increases With Weekly Training Hours
- Colangelo's thesis found 37% of ultra athletes had prior mental health diagnoses and 47% screened at risk for a disorder.
- Risk rose with training hours: 1–9 hrs = 28%, 10–20 hrs = 39%, 20+ hrs = 57%, showing a dose-dependent relationship.
Significant Unmet Suicide Risk Among Ultra Athletes
- 12% of study participants screened positive for suicidal ideation or self-harm risk, and 37% of those had never received mental health care.
- This reveals a sizable group with unmet mental health needs within ultra communities.