ADDICTED TO EXERCISE
Being hooked on keeping fit might sound like a positive, but it can take over your life, with damaging efects. healthy investigates this growing problem
WORDS LAURA POTTER
Compulsive excercising can have the same negative social effects as other addictions
How do you feel when you miss a training session? Does it bother you if your friends put in more running miles on Strava? That isn’t worrying in itself – if you like to keep active, feeling less fit than your mates is frustrating. But sometimes that enthusiasm starts to impact on your life, body, mind and social circle, and that’s when it becomes a concern.
According to the British Medical Journal, although exercise addiction is not officially classified as a mental health disorder, it is ‘characterised by similar negative effects on emotional and social health as other addictions’.
Physiologically speaking, intense exercise can make your body release endocannabinoids, the brain’s natural ‘cannabis-like molecules’, and endorphins, which are similar to morphine. These result in a rush of dopamine, which gives intense pleasure.