Although regular exercise is a necessary and important part of a healthy lifestyle, too much exercise can actually be detrimental. When a person's desire for exercise becomes uncontrollable and excessive, an exercise addiction develops. Typically, the addiction forms in response to underlying negative emotions or feelings. In fact, male depression and exercise addiction often have a close relationship.
Male Depression
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, more than 6 million men in the United States experience at least one episode of depression every year. The organization defines depression as involving "disturbances in mood, concentration, sleep, activity level, interests, appetite and social behavior." Symptoms of male depression vary widely, ranging from persistent sadness to difficulty concentrating and thoughts of suicide. Male depression tends to be more difficult to diagnose than female depression. NAMI explains that many men ignore the symptoms of depression or attempt to self-medicate through alcohol, drugs, risky behaviors or exercise.
Addiction and Depression
Many people with exercise addiction have underlying depression. For these people, exercise is often used as a distraction from the stress and anxiety in their lives. Although they feel as though they cannot control other parts of their life, they have a sense of control over their workout routines. A person depressed over their weight or personal appearance might also use excessive exercise to ward off these feelings of depression. Yet, interestingly, the relationship between exercise addiction and male depression often goes both ways. If a person with exercise addiction misses a workout, he often becomes significantly more depressed and anxious.
Dangers
As with any type of addiction, exercise addiction is associated with certain dangers. An addiction to exercise can interrupt a person's normal life, including obligations with work, school, family and friends. If these distractions persist, jobs may be lost, school courses may be failed and relationships may be damaged. Excessive exercise is also harmful to a person's health, placing the body at risk for injury and illness. Additionally, if depression is the underlying cause of exercise addiction, this untreated depression is also quite dangerous.
Diagnosis
As of December 2010, exercise addiction had not been recognized as a medical disorder. In fact, the Brain Physics website explains that there is no "formal definition or universally recognized set of symptoms" for the condition. For this reason, it is extremely difficult to diagnose exercise addiction. However, certain warning signs may indicate an addiction to exercise. These include exercising for more than two hours every day, following a strict and rigid exercise routine and exercising during a sickness or injury or to the point of pain. Allowing your exercise routine to interfere with work, school or social plans might also indicate an addiction to exercise. To ensure an accurate diagnosis, only a licensed medical professional should diagnose a patient with exercise addiction.
Treatment Considerations
Rather than treating the exercise addiction, treatment should be geared toward resolving the underlying depression. Since a person with exercise addiction often becomes depressed after missing a workout, forcing him to quit exercising may actually exacerbate the depression.
