Sports addiction – causes, complaints & therapy

Sports addiction

Sports addiction is understood to mean the excessive operation of sporting activities. It is one of the non-material dependencies. According to estimates, between 1 and 3 percent of all athletes in Germany alone suffer from fitness addiction. However, as with other addictions, those affected do not consider themselves to be addicted. Young people between the ages of 11 and 17 are estimated to be particularly at risk for sports addiction.

What is sports addiction?

In medicine, sports addiction is also referred to as fitness addiction or pathological sports. This refers to a non-material dependency in which the persons concerned suffer from the inner compulsion of sporting activities. However, as an independent diagnosis, sports addiction has not yet been included in the international classifications of diseases. For this reason, it cannot be attributed to the recognized mental disorders.

Causes

Sports addiction is considered a typical behavioral addiction. However, it is not caused by drugs. The exact cause of this extreme behavior is still unknown. At times, experts considered endorphins, the body’s own happiness hormones, to trigger fitness addiction because these endogenous substances are released under extreme stress. However, American scientists see no connection despite the increased endorphin levels. In addition, an increase in endorphins has been detected even when practicing relaxation methods.

A possible reason for sports addiction is therefore the distraction from everyday problems. After unpleasant experiences such as stress at work or family or critical life situations, those affected concentrate completely on the sport and thus switch off their thoughts. Since they find this state pleasant, they call it up again and again. Drugs also work in a similar way. However, this creates the danger of a total focus on sport.

In addition, sports activities reduce the fears of fitness addicts. Thus, sports addicts are primarily insecure people who improve their self-confidence through positive athletic performance, which in turn compensates for frustrations in other areas of life. Furthermore, those affected experience a great relaxation effect after exercise, which affects their soul like a drug. However, which effect is ultimately decisive for the development of sports addiction cannot yet be answered by the researchers.

Symptoms and course

Typical symptoms of sports addiction:

  • Aggression

The occurrence of a sports addiction can be recognized by certain behaviors of the affected persons. So they suffer from the compulsion to do sports constantly. If they cannot pursue this activity, they react unbalanced and nervous. In front of other people, however, sports addiction is denied. Pain or injury ignore the fitness addicts, so that they go beyond the physical load limit. Those affected train in the truest sense of the word until they drop.

At some point, the body is considered an opponent. In order to reduce the withdrawal symptoms, addicts train harder and harder. Social contacts are also less important to them than sporting activities. Sometimes they even give up friendships or neglect their profession. Not infrequently, sports addiction is accompanied by sleep problems, aggression, depressive moods or an eating disorder. In addition, physical impairments of bonesjointsligamentsmuscles and tendons due to the constant sporting load are to be expected.

If sports addiction progresses, this can lead to massive professional and everyday problems for those affected. The entire organism increasingly suffers from sports addiction because it damages the immune system.

Diagnosis

The person concerned himself is hardly able to determine a sports addiction. Like all other addicts, he feels comfortable in his condition and wants to maintain it. In order to escape this vicious circle, help must be sought from a psychotherapist. However, the family doctor or a specialist can also serve as the first point of contact.

treatment and therapy

Psychotherapy is usually required to treat a sports addiction. This can be done on an outpatient basis or, if necessary, as an inpatient if it is associated with eating disorders. Since self-responsible treatment is rarely crowned with success, it requires the advice of an experienced psychotherapist. The type of therapy chosen depends on the individual needs of the patient and the extent of the mental illness. Therefore, neither an exact duration of treatment nor a specific number of therapy sessions can be determined.

Among the most successful treatments are cognitive behavioral therapies such as talk therapy. If it is actually possible to overcome the sports addiction, the patient can definitely do sports again at a later point in time. However, as a result of the treatment, he regains control over sporting events, which makes moderate training possible.

If the patient does not know which therapist to turn to with his sports addiction, he can get advice from a sports psychologist or a psychological counseling center.

Prevention

An important preventive measure against sports addiction is knowledge about the mental illness. For example, the athlete should be aware that addictive behavior is also possible through sport. Sport is considered healthy if it takes place three times a week and lasts no more than 90 to 120 minutes.

Dorothy Farrar

Hello and welcome to my Health Guide & Encyclopedia! My name is Dorothy Farrar, and I'm the founder and main author of this platform.
My passion for health and wellness started at a young age when I became interested in the connection between the food we eat and the way we feel. This fascination led me to study nutrition and dietetics in college, where I learned about the importance of a balanced diet and the impact of various nutrients on the body.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *