Psychologists against dobbing in athletes who use substances THE Australian Psychological Society has warned that legislating to force healthcare professionals to report patients using performance-enhancing drugs in sport might deter athletes from seeking professional help. The Senate committee investigating the ramifications of the proposed Australian Anti-Doping Authority Amendment Bill will hear submissions from a range of interested parties in Canberra today. Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates will argue that the legislation does not go far enough and the extension of coercive powers to ASADA should be backed up by the imposition of criminal, not merely civil, sanctions. At the other end of the spectrum, the Australian Athletes Alliance has expressed grave concerns about the threat the proposed bill will pose to athletes' human rights. The AAA's fears that the legislation could jeopardise the privileged relationship between doctor and patient are shared by the APS. In its submission to the committee, the APS claimed that forcing psychologists to dob in patients/athletes who have turned to banned drugs because it's the only way they can deal with the pressures of their sport risks worsening the problem and driving it further underground. "Psychologists take their commitment to client confidentiality very seriously and while confidentiality is never absolute, psychologists disclose information obtained in the course of their provision of psychological services only under very specific circumstances," the APS claimed in its written submission. Any statutory reporting requirement to breach this commitment would risk deterring athletes from seeking the very services and support they might need to acknowledge and address any substance-related health and behavioural issues. One of the main reasons swimmer James Magnussen gave last week for joining in a pre-London Olympics bonding session that involved taking Stilnox was that it was his way of escaping the pressures he felt going into the Games. Coincidentally, the Blackstone review of the performance of the Australian swimming team was highly critical of the fact that there was no psychologist attached to the team who might have identified problems before they got out of hand. The APS said in its submission that while it understood the need for a punitive, zero-tolerance response to drug-taking in some instances, generally sporting organisations should take a harm-minimisation approach to substance misuse within sport. "Psychological research and practice confirms that an insistence on a 'one strike, you're out' type of approach often exacerbates and reinforces problematic behaviour," the APS submission stated. Rather, we need to ensure that athletes seeking support in relation to any problems with their substance use are not deterred from doing so.