The Swiss Lab for Sports Psychiatry and Elite recovery has generated a pioneering and growing research portfolio in sports psychiatry and sports medicine, with an extensive track record of publications across cycling, ultra-endurance sports, football, and other disciplines.
Cycling Publications
The care episode of a young elite-level female cyclist with major depressive disorder and comorbid eating disorder: A sports psychiatry case report from Switzerland
Outlines the care episode of a 20-year-old female elite-level cyclist in Switzerland, who ceased competing and was thereafter diagnosed with major depressive disorder and a continuing diagnosis for a comorbid eating disorder, likely exacerbated by sport-specific stressors.
Discover Mental Health, 2025
Body Mass Index Trends for the Top Five Finishers in Men’s Grand Tour and Monument Cycling Events from 1994–2023: Implications for Athletes and Sporting Stakeholders
Analyses declining Body Mass Index trajectories for the top finishes in men’s elite-level cycling Grand Tour events.
Sports, 2024
A review of mental health issues in high-performance and elite-level cycling
Reviews the existing body of literature on mental health issues in elite-level and high performance cycling, identifying a sizeable prevalence of symptoms and details the effects of complex risk factors.
International Journal of Sports Medicine, 2023
A narrative review of sleep deprivation in ultra-endurance cycling: Improving mental health awareness and regulatory emphasis
Examines the literature on sleep deprivation in ultra-endurance cycling events, which can often have detrimental short- and long-term effects for the mental health of amateur athletes.
Sports Psychiatry 2022
Hugo Koblet (1925-1964) and the ongoing need for better mental health support in elite-level cycling
Discusses the psychosocial and post-retirement challenges of the former Swiss cyclist, Hugo Koblet (1925-1964).
Sports Psychiatry, 2025
Mental health resources and initiatives from European national cycling federations: Insights on policy and practice
Investigates existing resources provided institutionally by the European national cycling federations to protect and promote athlete mental wellbeing.
Sports Psychiatry, 2023
‘There just isn’t any other option–so we just have to put up with it’: Mental health in women’s cycling and the necessity of structural change
Discusses mental health issues in women’s elite-level cycling and the influence of enduring disparities and stressors within the sport, before suggesting practical changes that could be implemented to improve athlete wellbeing.
Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 2023
Pharmacotherapeutic undertreatment of ADHD in elite-level cycling and anti-doping regulations: Preliminary analysis from 2020-2021
Investigates the sanctioned pharmacotherapeutic treatment levels of ADHD in elite-level cycling by examining data on granted Therapeutic Use Exemptions.
Sports Psychiatry 2022
Watch Prof. Dr. Michael Liebrenz talk to the Swiss national broadcaster, SRF, ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics about mental health issues in sports.
Football, Motorsport, Tennis and General Mental Health in Sports
Coercive compliance? Anti-doping systems in tennis and athlete mental health
Scrutinises a recent lawsuit and high-profile doping cases in tennis, as well as discussing the wider regulatory framework surrounding doping throughout the sport.
Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 2025
Analyzing the theoretical trajectory of “staleness” and its relevance to modern sports psychiatry
Explores and seeks to resurrect the relevance of the overlooked concept of “staleness” in sports psychiatry and sports medicine, which may have links to more modern terminology and concepts.
Sports Psychiatry, 2024
Gambling, sports psychiatry, and disciplinary sanctions in English professional football
Critically examines the relationship between gambling, pathological gambling behaviours, and elite-level football in the United Kingdom through the case of the Premier League player, Ivan Toney.
Soccer & Society, 2024
Beyond a Game: A Narrative Review of Psychopathic Traits in Sporting Environments
Reviews the evidence base around psychopathic personality traits in sporting domains, outlining their detrimental consequences but also their potential adaptive effects, contingent on the trait expressions and the context.
Sports, 2023
On the same team: A call for increased medicolegal knowledge exchanges between forensic psychiatry and sports psychiatry
Illustrates the epistemological and clinical overlap between forensic psychiatry and sports psychiatry that may manifest through regulatory, clinical, criminal, and civil spheres.
Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2022
The Saudi Pro League can lead the way in promoting athlete mental health
Discusses the possibilities, underpinned by investment and infrastructural progress, for the Saudi Pro League in football to promote innovative mental health strategies to support the players in the league.
Saudi Journal of Sports Medicine, 2025
Multimodal treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and comorbid symptoms in an ultra football fan: A case report from Switzerland
Outlines the care episode and therapeutic trajectory of an ultra football fan in Switzerland who had ADHD and comorbid symptoms of alcohol use disorder.
Sage Open Medical Case Reports, 2024
Psychiatric risk factors in Formula One and the importance of integrating mental health into driver science
Explores the psychiatric and psychological risk factors in Formula One that may negatively affect the mental health of drivers and discusses potential interventions throughout the sport to better uphold athlete wellbeing.
Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 2024
Anabolic-androgenic steroids: Considerations for forensic psychiatry, sports psychiatry, and the law
Highlights the intersections between forensic psychiatry, sports psychiatry, and legal disciplines through the shared issue of anabolic-androgenic steroid use in sports, which have become an increasingly prevalent and complex phenomena.
Sports Psychiatry, 2023
Frasier's Niles Crane—Sports Psychiatrist? A Response to “Sports Psychiatry: An Update and the Emerging Role of the Sports Psychiatrist on the Sports Medicine Team”
Discusses a cultural representation of sports psychiatry through the character of Niles Crane in the American sitcom, Frasier.
Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, 2022
Ultra-Endurance Sports Publications
Exploring the scope and applications of anti-doping measures in ultramarathon: An analysis of the positions of ultramarathon race organizers
Investigates the often-consistent and overlooked policy landscape surrounding doping in ultra-marathon events, where there may be a mix of elite-level and amateur athletes.
Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 2024
Regulatory proposals to support athlete mental health in the Race Across America
Discusses the effects of sleep deprivation that can transpire during the Race Across America and suggests regulatory proposals to prevent and mitigate these issues.
Sports Psychiatry, 2023
Ultra culture-ultra reality: A content analysis of YouTube depictions of ultra endurance sport and comparisons to scientific literature
Examines the cultural representations of ultra-endurance sports through media materials, suggesting that there is a mismatch between expectations and reality that could be harmful to current and future participants.
Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 2023
Mental Health Disorders in Ultra Endurance Athletes per ICD-11 Classifications: A Review of an Overlooked Community in Sports Psychiatry
Reviews the existing evidence base on the prevalence and risk factors of mental health issues in ultra-endurance sports.
Sports, 2022