Triathlon and Fear

I have seen many triathletes vomiting before, during or after competing.  It reminds me of a saying in Mexico after a drunk had too much the night before: “What I ate made me sick.”  Competing at a high level with high degree of responsibility made us fearful of not performing well; so fearful that sometimes it is uncontrollable.  My bulimic patients tell me that they relaxed after vomiting and use vomiting as a mechanism of overcoming excess of stress or anxiety.  Leo Messi had the same reaction when playing for Argentina this month; Oscar Pictorius vomited when listened to the medical report on his victim during trial.

Messi says that he does not worried about the vomiting because it has happened many times “La belle indifference” was a sign of hysteria at the time of Freudian psychoanalysis when patients could not walk or move a part of the body.  The patients were not concerned about the symptoms presented; the family members were more concerned.  “Tata” Martino (Barcelona´s coach) is more concerned than Leo and says that there is something wrong with the Messi´s vomiting.

Paola Espinosa, bronze medalist in the Olympics, 10 meters platform jump, says that she is afraid of jumping, but she does not vomit.  She is very conscious about her fears.  Being conscious about our conflicts/fears helps to do something about them and then we can have the possibility of managing the situation in a better way as Paolo does.  Paola says that she uses the fear on her advantage to perform better. 

In individual sports we should aim to control reactions like vomiting recognizing our conflict/fears.  Messi can have a chance to live with it because there are 11 players in the field.