When exercise shifts from a healthy habit to an unhealthy addiction.

When exercise shifts from a healthy habit to an unhealthy addiction.

Even if Abby Heugel wanted to stop, I could not.

He had to sweat. She had to feel her heart take and stretch the muscles, shrink and burn. He had to be in control. I had to exercise.

Heugel, 35, has a history of depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and exercise addiction, which has left his weight below for a decade, he said. Although he sees a therapist, she says, she fights with her addiction every day.

"Physically, I feel my skin jumping if I do not move every two hours. Mentally, it is torture, "Heugel, a writer based in Grand Rapids, Michigan said.

Heugel often shared stories about their depression and TOC in their work, in a sarcastic way, with dry humor, but said she rarely opened about her addiction to exercise.

Many people do not seem to understand how exercise can develop into a healthy habit to a potentially dangerous addiction, he said, and she wants to change that.

"I would define as a part of my anxiety and the OCD does not do too much exercise because I think I'm fat and need to lose weight Actually it is quite the opposite ... If I could have 40 lbs Putting my share tomorrow, I would do it in an instant, so many people are confused, "Heugel said.

Heugel said she also was not photographed in years because she is uncomfortable with the way it now seems.

"Why not eat more?" I like more than a normal person, but everything is very controlled and obsessive and not enough to keep my hyperactivity, why not just relax ?, Because, like alcohol or drugs, is an addiction " , he said. "That's what I do when I'm anxious, part of my routines, it's a constraint."

Exercise dependence is not included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the authoritative guide to defining, classifying and diagnosing mental health disorders. The only behavior associated with dependency in DSM is gambling.

However, an article published last month in the British Medical Journal encourages health professionals to recognize and understand the risks of exercise dependence.

Symptoms of exercise dependence appear in about 0.3% to 0.5% of the general population worldwide, said Heather Hausenblas, a professor of kinesiology at the University of Jacksonville in Florida and senior author of Article.

"There is a small percentage, but ... if you eyeballing across the country, hundreds of thousands of people who have this," Hausenblas said.

"We tend to think that exercise is a really positive thing to do, and most of us do not get enough exercise and we do not get the health benefits associated with exercise, he adds. she said. "But, like any behavior, we can take it to the extreme. "

When exercise is pushed to the extreme, Hausenblas says, it can manifest itself as a secondary addiction, which is secondary to an eating disorder and a person is exercising to control or maintain your weight. Or the addiction of exercise can manifest itself as a primary dependence, in which no underlying pathology.

Although men and women are also at risk for exercise dependence, which most often appears as a primary addiction in men and a secondary addiction in women, according to the document.

"Research has been slow, but increasingly, showing clearly that there are groups of individuals who are doing too much physical activity to the point that classify them as addictive," Hausenblas said.

"Most do not know what goes on behind the scenes"

For Heugel, the symptoms of primary exercise dependence, as well as OCD and depression, became more evident after 20 years.

In 2015, need two blood transfusions because she was anemic by overexertion he said. Her doctor told her to find a therapist.

Now, Heugel is more anemic and often brings her therapist, Brendan Kelly, who helps to "fix things".

"It's a daily struggle or every hour, and combined with depression, it's really hard," Heugel said. "I'm a very functional person on paper, I have a great job, a house, people think I'm funny ... but most do not know what happens between the racks."

Although exercise has become a compulsive disorder for Heugel, Kelly said it is important to remember that exercise can have a positive impact on mental and physical health for many other patients. A regular exercise routine can even be incorporated into an ongoing treatment for certain mental health conditions, Kelly, co-founder of Wellness, Ambulatory Therapy in Grand Rapids, Michigan said.

But for addicts to exercise, the goal of treatment is to help patients recognize their addictive behavior and reduce extreme exercise routines, according to the new document.

There is little research on the treatment of exercise dependence, but the paper indicates that cognitive-behavioral therapy is recommended, as with other behavioral addictions.

"Patients may find it beneficial to work with fitness professionals and psychotherapists to design a training regimen and relearn to use internal sensations, such as pain and fatigue, to differentiate between proper health in relation to training Unhealthy and excessive motivation. In relation to others, "the document.

However, when the exercise of a seemingly healthy change to a habit of dependence, signs and symptoms are often overlooked, and change occurs slowly, said Paula Quatromoni, Associate Professor and Director of the Department of Boston University Health. It is not related to the case of Heugel.

"As an eating disorder, an exercise disorder is very resbaladiza.Por slope usually begins with good intentions get in shape, lose a few pounds to look good for the wedding, lose weight after having a baby train for A first triathlon, "said Quatromoni.

"When behavior becomes compulsive, takes over and insatiable is a necessity leads to exercise the need for exercise, exercise and exercise lasts several times a day becomes more important than anything else. With friends, more important than going to work, more important than sleep, more important than eating, "he said, adding that addiction often accompanies other mental illnesses, such as anxiety or TOC.

"I hate the way I look and I tell myself"

Signs and symptoms of exercise addiction include exercise despite illness or injury and withdrawal symptoms when you can not exercise such as anxiety, Hausenblas, author of the new diary.

"Not the amount of exercise, may have an elite athlete, and if they have an overuse of injuries, will take the time to let your body heal, while someone who is addicted to exercise can only Not or be extremely difficult for them to be able to do so, "Hausenblas said.

"There's a guy I interviewed who ran a marathon and kept running because he felt he needed to get more exercise," he said. "Another man ended up buying memberships in the gym and said it costs a lot, bought three memberships in the gym because I did not want a gym know what he was doing, So that the morning would be a gym, by another afternoon, in the afternoon, then another. "

The health risks of exercise addiction ranging from injuries due to overwork, dehydration and anemia to develop a weakened immune system and even death, especially when combined with an eating disorder, Quatromoni says The University of Boston.

"Warning signs are not always visible, certainly not a health professional who does not see the social consequences of illness such as lack of interpersonal relationships, loneliness, isolation," he said. "As a company and as professionals, we are not accustomed to exercising as" too much of a good thing "in a way that can harm your health. "

Heugel agrees.

"What I want people to understand is not vanity at all, I hate the way I look and how I am, but it is really a disease, a combination of several things that culminate in my behavior, And it is a real thing, no excuse or just invent something, "he said. "It is complicated, and I do not expect a person who does not understand, to be sympathetic to the struggle. "

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