Sharief Hendricks, Dina Christina (Christa), Janse van Rensburg, Leigh Gordon, Adrian Rotunno, Janesh Ganda, Dhavina Naidoo, Caroline Dalton, Natheema Isaacs

The health and mental well-being of athletes have gained significant attention in sport and exercise medicine (SEM).1 However, comparatively less emphasis has been placed on the health and mental well-being of sports medicine practitioners, despite emerging evidence of substantial burnout and psychological distress in this population.2 3 Sports medicine practitioners are at high risk of burnout and mental health problems, with Albright et al3 recently highlighting burnout among sports medicine physicians as an important and under-recognised concern. In one of the first studies to examine the rates of common mental health concerns among sports medicine practitioners, Pilkington et al reported that one in three participants had sought treatment for a psychological issue or mental health problem at some stage (34.4%, n=174).2 The authors also found that one of the most robust protective factors against mental ill-health was satisfaction with social support.2 This finding is consistent with the literature outside of sport. For example, a 2019 systematic review on resilience in medical doctors found social support to be a key factor both at the professional and personal levels.4 Across a range of professions (eg, sport, business, medical services and politics), social support has also been identified as an enabling characteristic of high achievers to thrive and perform at extraordinary levels.4 While the literature on social support practice for sports medicine practitioners remains scant, the purpose of this editorial is to provide an overview of the concept of social support, how it has been measured in sport and to outline avenues for future work to improve social support practice and research for sports medicine practitioners.