For most of us, exercise is a valuable aspect of our lives, and is a healthy way to relieve stress, promote restorative sleep and maintain physical wellbeing. However, for a number of people, exercise has a more sinister application. Used addictively, exercise becomes a way to 'get rid' of or avoid unwanted feelings such as anger or distress, achieve a 'high', or compulsively burn off body fat and food – in short it is a self-destructive mechanism for coping with feelings, which unwittingly reinforces a negative self concept.
It is well understood scientifically that a low level of 'feel-good' chemicals such as seratonin is linked to depression, anxiety and poor sleep control, and that exercise causes the release of these chemicals in the brain. Strenuous exercise activates the sympathetic nervous system, causing a rise in the concentration of the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and serotonin, whilst the pituitary gland secretes beta endorphins that block pain signals from reaching the brain. Over-exercise can promote a feeling of euphoria similar to a drug high, and a similar cyclical pattern of 'withdrawal' for which the only solution seems to be further intensive exercise.
The standard mental health diagnostic manual, the DSM-IV-TR, defines excessive exercise as that which "significantly interferes with important activities, occurs at inappropriate times or in inappropriate settings, or when the individual continues to exercise despite injury or other medical complications."
The exercise addict will not only exercise when they are injured, but will directly cause themselves injury due to excessive exercise. Individuals with an eating disorder will often over-exercise in order to burn off the food they have eaten in the same way a bulimic purges or an anorexic achieves weight loss. Exercise is also commonly used to 'burn off' difficult emotions such as anger. Many exercise addicts are perfectionists and find their own human imperfections disgusting and unacceptable. The use of excessive exercise is used to attempt to compensate for these unwanted imperfections, and starts to become prioritised in the compulsive exerciser's life to the exclusion of anything else. Relationships and work suffer, a day away from exercising causes profound distress, or feelings of being 'charged' or 'explosive', and health levels can decline as overtraining leads to injury and illness.
Recovery comes in the form of abstinence from excessive exercise, and going through a process of finding an appropriate voice with which to respectfully represent one's feelings. It is a long and difficult process, as the individual frequently experiences a profound sense of shame and guilt not only about the circumstances of their life but their very existence. With support an exercise addict can learn to accept themselves as they are, and to handle their feelings in a gentle and compassionate way.