Recognizing sports addiction: which signs you should take seriously
Created: 11/21/2022, 8:30 p.m
By: Juliane Gutmann
Sport is healthy, but in excess it can even have negative consequences for the body and psyche.
Recognizing exercise addiction is not always easy.
Are you always on the move?
A good thing, because sport and activity prevent obesity and the associated complications such as diabetes.
In addition, regular endurance sports have been shown to lower blood pressure, release endorphins and prevent depression.
The same applies to sports: the right balance should be found.
Too little physical activity is just as unhelpful as too much.
Those who overexert themselves even risk physical and psychological problems.
In theory, sport can also be addictive.
Sports addiction is one of the substance-independent behavioral addictions such as shopping addiction or gambling addiction, informs the
Sportärztezeitung
.
Thomas Heinen, professor of movement and training science with a focus on gymnastics/martial arts at the University of Leipzig, and Nadja Walter, research assistant at the University of Leipzig, describe in an article for the
sports doctor newspaper
the symptoms as follows:
The compulsive increase in training units, volumes and intensities in order to achieve the desired effects on the one hand and to alleviate or avoid withdrawal symptoms on the other is typical for affected athletes.
Thomas Heinen and Nadja Walter
Withdrawal symptoms show up, for example, as increased irritability, depression or anxiety that sports addicts feel when they can't exercise.
Sport is healthy - if you don't overdo it.
© Cavan Images/Imago
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Fatigue fractures to loneliness: Possible consequences of a sports addiction
Frequently pushing the limits in a sporting sense can have dire consequences.
This increases the risk of fatigue fractures or other injuries that are promoted by excessive demands.
But the psyche of sports addicts also suffers.
Because with a pronounced sports addiction, there is often a decrease in social activities because the training times collide with evening meal dates or parties.
In the worst case, social isolation and loneliness are the result.
Sport survey
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Sports addiction: an overview of the signs
As the health insurance company
AOK
informs, there are typical signs that indicate that someone is addicted to fitness and muscle building.
They are comparable to the symptoms of addiction in general and could express themselves as follows:
Physical and psychological withdrawal symptoms such as gastrointestinal problems, sleep disorders, depression
Dose increase: Sports addicts do more and more intense sports
The feeling that the sport has you under control and not the other way around
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Time expenditure: Those affected spend many hours training and dealing with the topic of nutrition also costs many sports addicts time
Social conflicts in private and at work
