Not only good sport can become an addiction

When sport becomes addiction

13/11/2013

People who have a compulsive urge to play sports may suffer from sports addiction. This behavioral addiction is neither listed in the ICD 10 nor in the DSM-IV and is therefore not recognized as an independent diagnosis. That there is this phenomenon, however, is still undisputed. In some cases, there is an eating disorder in addition to the sports addiction. To reduce body weight, sufferers undergo intensive training, looking to the desired ideal figure.

There are several scientific explanations of how sports addiction can develop. For some sufferers, exhaustion to exhaustion serves to compensate for failures or to overcome problems in other areas.

In Germany, according to estimates by psychologists, about three percent of the population are affected. "Based on a study that we conducted with the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen, I would say that the incidence of illness among the intensive sports is one to three percent," says Prof. Oliver Stoll of the University of Halle-Wittenberg.

It is not uncommon for those affected to experience a feeling of inner restlessness when they give up their usual dose of sport. It can even develop physical symptoms such as stomach pain, functional heart problems or back pain.

"If someone feels such a compulsive urge to do sports, that the renunciation of his usual dose makes him mentally or even physically suffer, that is not normal," said Jens Kleinert, Professor of sports and health psychology at the German Sport University Cologne. "One can already speak of addictive behavior.“

Almost every 20th athlete is at risk
In order to gain an overview of the extent of sports addiction in the population, 1089 women and men practicing endurance sports such as running or cycling were asked about their training habits in a study. About one in 20 of them showed tendencies that could indicate a sports addiction or sports addiction risk.

"Perhaps it is also because they are very willing to talk about their excessive training: It is clear that endurance athletes seem to have the highest risk of disease," explains Stoll.

A connection with the ideals of our performance-driven world can not be denied. Performance has a high priority and is generally rewarded positively. But also the beauty ideal suggested by the advertising lead more and more to a veritable body cult, which is increasingly subjecting more and more men.

So athletes who build more and more muscle mass, but also extreme athletes who get a kick after the other by the adrenaline release of the body, also to the risk group. In anorexia, a sports addiction usually forms, from the quasi compulsive pursuit, to a perfect body in their eyes. "The focus is, for example, to continue to lose weight or to compensate for seizures, which is why we call this secondary dependency," explains Kleinert. These are diagnosed much more often than pure sports addiction, yet the symptoms are almost identical.

When sport determines life
Sport addicts can be recognized by the fact that sport is not only part of life, but also determines it primarily. The sports psychologist rof. Thomas Schack, Vice President of the International Society for Sport Psychology, says that he does not train himself because he feels like it, but feels an uncontrollable urge to do so.

As with most addictions, the body demands ever-increasing amounts of the intoxicating feeling of the hormones dopamine and adrenaline, which are released through exercise and can also trigger withdrawal symptoms such as headache, stomach ache, nervousness, or depression. But the behavior that escalates in extreme sports can lead to serious physical damage to health. "In the long term, excessive exercise behavior can cause the body to stop regenerating, and it can lead to an overtraining effect that is accompanied by symptoms such as insomnia, headache or muscle ailments," says Kleinert. The high physical stress leads in the long term to a weakening of the immune system and a premature wear of joints, bones and tendons.

Exercising despite injuries
Another effect that has been observed is that sports enthusiasts often continue to train with injuries. "I know cases in which unhealed fractures or torn ligaments were trained, which can lead to lasting damage," warns Schack.

Problems can also develop on a psychosocial level. Sports enthusiasts often develop a social isolation, as they prefer sports over friends but also the family. "Those affected are constantly under pressure and feel so driven by their sporting urge that they no longer really come to rest," says Stoll. "Some even get up in the middle of the night to train."

Trauma or a disturbed self-perception
At the first signs of addictive behavior, experts definitely recommend critically questioning their own training behavior.

"Indications for the existence of sports addiction are, according to sports psychologists:
- when endurance sports become the central purpose of life
- when forced abstinence from physical activity, such as nervousness and stomach aches, or guilt or depression
- when the load has to be increased continuously
- when the urge to exercise is experienced as inner compulsion
- when physical warning signals are ignored from overload
- even if injuries continue to be trained
- when social contacts are neglected or abandoned because of the sport.

When the limit of sports passion to sports is exceeded, it is necessary to consult a therapist, "says Schack.The most common triggers include trauma or a disturbed self-perception. (Fr)