What Do You Mean By Exercise Addiction?
A. When you are an active fitness person or gym freak, you definitely would be enjoying your physical activity or your daily aerobic workouts, wouldn't you? It is, after all, what boosts your muscle endurance and physical as well as mental strength. But if you have noticed any negative consequences in those days that you are not actively exercising, such as irritability, restlessness, anxiety, depression, stress, and psychological or behavioral conflicts around you, then you might be a victim of what medical experts term "exercise addiction.” It is important to note the key point of fitness, that physical activity is a major cornerstone and guide to your physical and mental health, but care should be taken by all individuals to make sure a lack of exercise any day should not pose behavioral concerns, obsessions or mental irritation that can throw yourself or your loved ones, friends or your social circle off balance.
B. Exercise addiction has currently not been accepted as such a mental health disorder in the classified or proposed order of DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders -edition number 5).Adverse consequences or repercussions of ignoring symptoms have been noted by medical researchers, and hence, this brings us to shed light on exercise addiction while also considering it as an unknown behavioral pattern of the affected person (without awareness of their negative behavior or consequences on people around them).
What Are the Phases of Exercise Addiction?
So, how does an addiction happen, or rather an addictive habit, simply put that way? It happens over the course of time, with the patient ignoring the symptoms and allowing the habit to become deeply ingrained or established within one's system. Exercise addiction is a similar phenomenon, too, according to medical researchers, and its cause can be mainly explained through these four phases of development in an individual addicted to exercise.
Phase 1: Either for the purpose of pleasure or recreation or to boost your fitness, exercising is joyful in this phase and not at all a threat or harm to oneself, but rather, this is the intended phase that can help you stay in touch with your long-term health goals. Joyful and innovative workouts or exercise can definitely boost an individual's physical and neurocognitive health, according to medical experts. Also, this is the phase all fitness enthusiasts and trainers should be in, where there are no negative repercussions on yourself as such, even if you miss your workout any day or stay away from your intended schedule or regimen.
Phase 2: People suffering from systemic or general stress and dysphoria (bodily uneasiness and irritability) can be easy prey to develop exercise addiction. This is the beginning of an individual overexerting themselves during workouts or exercises without caring enough about the health repercussions of overexercising. Training to the point of muscle injuries or trying to distract oneself from physical and mental stress by over-exercising is a phase that can cause one to become obsessed with one's daily training schedule. Skipping the regimen can make them irritated and uneasy, and the individual can become frustrated or easily angered on the day they do not exercise.
Phase 3: Mood swings and irritability are major turning points in this phase. Not only is the mental thinking affected, but behavioral changes are concerning for those around them. For example, medical research classically delves into the case of a person continuing to exercise despite injury. The individual either knowingly or unknowingly may continue to suffer physical injuries and mental stress this way, because they cannot be free from the habit of exercise.
Phase 4: In this final phase of established addiction, the individuals begin to use exercise as a way to shield themselves from their emotions or feelings and even stress patterns. At this juncture, the person affected may be more concerned about their withdrawal symptoms or negative behavioral consequences if they do not exercise or work out on any day. Hence, to avoid these negative changes in behavior or the withdrawal mode, they may take recourse to exercise without any joy or enthusiasm to boost their health or fitness.
What Disorders Can Be Connected to Exercise Addiction?
According to physicians and neurocognitive research experts, several underlying disorders lead to the development of exercise addiction in healthy people as well. These are individuals with :
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Self-obsession or narcissistic traits.
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Behavioral disorders.
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Mood-based disorders.
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Eating disorders.
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Negative body image or dysphoria.
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Obsessive-compulsive disorders.
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Substance or drug abusers commonly
What Are the Clinical Symptoms of Exercise Addiction?
These are the features to watch out for if you are rigid about your exercise patterns or daily discipline:
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Feeling sick when you are not exercising.
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The feeling of loss or depression due to not exercising.
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Feeling frustrated and angry.
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Feeling guilty when you do not exercise.
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Feeling anxious when you are skipping your exercise day.
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Training to the point of muscle injury or training despite a muscle injury or body injury.
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Not feeling joyful anymore during regular exercise.
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Disrupting your work or family life because you don't want to skip your exercise day.
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Skipping social events or avoiding family members on the pretext of exercising.
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Behaving irritably or badly with your peers or loved ones, those days when you skip exercise.
What Is the Management of Exercise Addiction?
If you or your loved ones or friends are experiencing any of the symptoms listed below that take a toll on your physical and mental health, the day you skip exercise, then you may need counseling from a registered fitness expert or a physician. Psychiatric counseling can also help address the above-mentioned clinical symptoms. Cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the gold-standard management measures for individuals suffering from or showing symptoms of exercise addiction. Physician-centered strategies meant to help the individual abstain from high exercise or reward patients for lowering their exercise schedules or limits help in gradually decreasing or eliminating the addiction.
Conclusion:
Exercise addiction is dangerous in the long run and affects your neurocognitive health more than your physical health. Medical researchers note that these symptoms of exercise addiction, exhibited by patients, would be more of a sort of behavioral addiction that affects their physical, mental, emotional, and social life.
