The Olympics has begun. Athletes (and spectators) will have a nerve-racking, heart-wrenching, blood-boiling, stomach-cramping and nail-biting experience. Physical preparation is important but emotional conditioning and psychological preparation are critical.

Competition anxiety

Competition can be tough and rough. Competitive sports, especially at world-class events, not only involve physical prowess but place great emotional and psychological demands on competitors. In this article, we examine some of the psychological and emotional challenges which our athletes may be facing.

The expectation burden: This is enormous. Athletes such as Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell are going into the race with the great expectations of friends, family and Jamaicans all over the world. The responsibility of living up to these expectations is awesome. We in Jamaica can be very demanding and exacting of our athletes. They have to be able to manage the expectations which may lead to heightened anxiety and tension. If not properly handled, heightened anxiety and tension may affect their ability to focus and concentrate as they practise and compete.

Losses and disappointments: There are several athletes who have been affected by injuries, some of them have not been performing consistently. Coping with losing and injuries is difficult for most athletes. As human beings, they have to deal with the emotional responses of disbelief, anger, disappointment and even depression. Some of them will have to come to the point of acceptance. They have to accept that they can no longer participate in a particular sport or event. Others will have to accept that they have to quit or take a break. Despite these emotional challenges, they have to appear strong and brave and put their best smile forward. What an enormous pressure.

Mind blockers: Athletes may be plagued with mind blockers. Their mind blockers may include the fear of repeating a previous performance, anger, anxiety, lack of motivation and many distractions. Our athletes competing in the 100m sprints must deal with the possibility of being beaten or repeating a past dismal performance. Athletes must have the ability to block out negative emotions and develop adaptive tactics in order to maximise their preparation and performance.

The quicksand effect: This is the feeling that everything is going wrong. The athlete feels that training and preparation have not gone well; focuses on injuries and may not feel well on the day of competition. Despite the athlete's best attempts, he or she keeps falling in quicksand. It is important that athletes remain calm under pressure and maintain composure in the face of challenges in order to avoid the pitfalls of the quicksand effect.

The crowd factor: I was in the stadium during the national trials. The crowd went wild in the race between Powell and Bolt. The crowd factor can generate a lot of anxiety and tension. Many athletes thrive on the crowd factor as it gives that added rush of adrenaline. However, most competitors have to learn to manage the tension and anxiety generated by the crowd factor so that they don't crumble under the pressure to perform.

The big bubble syndrome: We regale our athletes. We tell them that they are the fastest and best in the world. This helps to build their self-confidence which is so essential to winning. However, too much confidence may result in the big bubble as people become overconfident. Overconfidence may lead to individuals not practising hard enough and they may take their opponents for granted.

Distraction control: There are many distractions. Our athletes have to deal with travelling to China, adjusting to its climate and pollution and they have to interact with other world athletes and the crowd. Tuning out and managing these distractions are critical to performance.

The current squabble in the Jamaican camp is yet another unfortunate distraction and, we do hope that this is now sorted out and does not impact on team morale and performance.

Dealing with psychological warfare: Teams and individuals engage in psychological warfare to break each other's composure, confidence, courage and control. Many athletes have lost a medal because they succumbed to the psychological warfare.

The great finale: Then comes the elimination and the grand finale. Many will be eliminated. Some will be victorious.

We commend the team of fine Jamaicans who are representing us at the Olympics. Let us recognise that competing at the highest level is very demanding and let us give them all the support, encouragement and adoration they deserve.

"The Mind is its own place, and in itself, can make heaven of Hell, and hell of Heaven."

Dr Wendel Abel is a consultant psychiatrist and head, Section of Psychiatry, Dept Of Community Health and Psychiatry, University of the West Indies; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.