Well-being in sport: reflections from the pathogenic and salutogenic approaches to mental health

Abstract

The understanding of mental health in sport is often limited by a pathogenic perspective that reduces it to the absence of disorders. The objective of this theoretical essay is, therefore, to broaden this understanding by contrasting the pathogenic view with the salutogenic approach, as operationalized by Corey Keyes's Complete Mental Health Model. The discussion is presented in three different sections. The first section, entitled “Pathogenic Approach: The Disease Paradigm and its Limitations,” demonstrates how the pathogenic approach present in the sports literature is based on a single continuum of disorder. In contrast, the second section, entitled “Salutogenic Approach: The Complete Mental Health Model,” highlights how the salutogenic approach establishes a dual continuum, in which mental well-being and disorder are two independent axes. Thus, the third section, called “Research on Mental Health in Sport: Considerations for the Future,” presents how this framework allows for a more precise and humane investigation of mental health, acknowledging that an athlete can flourish even with a diagnosis, or languish in its absence. It is concluded that sports agents must adopt this paradigm to create ecosystems that not only prevent illness but also intentionally cultivate the flourishing of its athletes.