Exercise alarm bells

CHASING HIGHS: Sporty teens may fall into substance abuse

TEENS who engage in high levels of sport and physical exercise could be psychologically predisposed to having substance abuse problems.

A study of teenagers found those who engaged in high levels of exercise were more likely to have substance abuse problems by the time they reached 21, compared with those who were moderate exercisers.

The Royal Australian and NZ College of Psychiatrists study said hard-core sports players who were doing more than four days a week exercise were more likely to become addicted to alcohol and drugs, including cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana.

Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research’s Shuichi Suetani, who led the study of 3493 teens, said the results showed very sporty girls were more likely to have potential alcohol issues later.

“Our results suggest that teenage girls who engaged in physical activity were particularly vulnerable to developing substance use disorder, like potential alcohol issues, later on,” Dr Suetani said.

“We found that people who were in the middle, sometimes or infrequent physical activity, were less like to have substance use disorder seven years later.”

Serotonin released during intense exercise as well as drinking alcohol after could go some way to explain the addictive behaviour.

“I think a lot of studies show changes in brain chemicals associated with exercise that is kind of similar to some substance use . . . your endorphins and serotonin levels go up,” Dr Suetani said.

He said the drinking culture around competitive and team sports could be responsible for the link.

There was one upside for boozy sportspeople, however, the study showed the high levels of exercise was responsible for lower levels of depression and anxiety.

“We found that with mood disorders, like depression, if you were not exercising at age 14 you had much higher risk of being depressed seven years later,” he said.

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists president Kym Jenkins said encouraging exercise was important for physical and mental health.

“As a community, we need to ensure a reduction in the culture of alcohol use in team sporting environments to minimise any risks,” Dr Jenkins said.

Teens who were classified as infrequent exercisers in the study were more likely to suffer depression and anxiety by the age of 21 years and were just as likely to fall into addiction as their sports-mad peers.