Health alert: Are you addicted to the treadmill?
Experts warn how exercise regimes can go way too far
AS New Year health regimes kick in get-fit addicts are being warned of the dangers of exercise compulsion. Two of Ireland’s leading addiction experts warn that excessive workouts can lead to serious injuries and damage mental health.
The issue was raised in November when former Miss Universe Ireland Lynn Kelly said vomiting during exercise is normal for her. She told Newstalk: ‘If you talk to anybody who does train quite regularly, in quite intense training sessions vomiting is actually not that uncommon
‘If you push your body so hard you do vomit, but it’s basically a release and then you can keep going, it’s not that much of a big deal.’
However, actress Gwyneth Paltrow this week highlighted concerns over over-exercising. She said: ‘A good way to gauge your relationship to exercise is to allow yourself a few weeks off. If your anxiety levels rise, your self-esteem drops, and you are riddled with an obsessive urge to get on the treadmill, then you may need to realign.’
Head of addiction services at St John of God hospital, Dr Colin O’Gara said there is a difference between people playing sport seriously and using exercise to mask unhealthy behaviour. He said: ‘You see people with other addictions persisting with exercise in the face of adverse consequences. People who have been diagnosed with joint problems and advised to stop but cannot. Exercise addiction can be a secondary issue for someone who has an addiction to codeine, sedatives, diazepam and have developed a high tolerance to those substances.’
At the Rutland Centre in Dublin patients have presented for treatment of exercise addiction, again in conjunction with other addictions.
Senior addiction counsellor Gerry Cooney said: ‘I would have counselled someone for this as part of other issues, both in private and at the clinic. This is extreme behaviour, and people need to be given the opportunity to put the controls on. It’s in low numbers, but we do see it.’
He stressed this is very different to someone who exercises frequently but who understands to stop when injured. He said: ‘You can say maybe a GAA player is consumed by their sport, but it is a part of their life. It’s something they engage in, and it’s not negatively impacting on their way of life. With addiction you’re asking “Is exercise negatively impacting on relationships or life quality?”.’
‘In training vomiting is not uncommon’