To all the people that don't believe, here are the reason's to believe.

     When hearing about an exercise addiction, several people think that this is an untrue and just a mythological statement. I first heard about this addiction on TLC’s My Strange Addiction. The more I watched the show I was intrigued to find out that this addiction is found in a lot of people. I’ve heard my parents talk a lot about when they were in cross-country in high school. They both were very addicted to running, and without it, they would capture a bad mood, and hold on to it for the rest of the day. Today, my mom is still in need of running. When she doesn’t exercise she gets into bad moods and it sets off her whole day. She has a very mild case of an exercise addiction, and she will admit that she does need to exercise weekly to make sure that her moods are where they should be.
For the non-believers of this addiction, they argue that people just over exercise and that it can have no effect to the body and to what their mood is. First, I want to talk about a study done in the Journal of American College Health (Crider, Garman, Hayduk & Hodel, 2004). This study proves that this addiction is real and it does exist, especially to the younger generations. There were about 268 random volunteers in a regional university in eastern Pennsylvania who were pursuing degrees in liberal arts. They then were required to sign a form of consent and answer a 23-item self-reported questionnaire. This questionnaire sampled the demographics, frequency, duration and intensity of the physical activity that the individual preformed.  The results showed that 11 volunteers classified themselves as “in season athletes” and were then removed from the participation. The remaining 257 people were then studied. 196 volunteers were active for fewer than 360 minutes per week. This showed that they were part of a general sample, meaning that they were in the normal limits. In the high sample portion of the volunteers, 61 of them were reported to exercise 360 minutes or more per week. Out of those 61 participants, 56 of them showed activity patterns that appeared to be classified as an exercise addiction. This group was then labeled “dependent” meaning that they have the addiction, or they are close to be considered addicted to exercise. The group was composed of 52.7% men and 47.3% women (Crider, Garman, Hayduk & Hodel, 2004).
Not only can young adults have the addiction, it is proven that elders can become addicted to exercise as well. There was study done by Reactions Weekly showed that a 66-year-old man with Parkinson’s disease became exercise dependent, or in other words addicted to exercise. The article states that “he became obsessed with physical exercise” (Reactions Weekly). This addiction didn’t happen just in a matter of a few days. He gradually increased the time he spent exercising each day. He reported that he needed to exercise to achieve a sense of “well-being.” Being addicted to exercise, you are unaware that the behavior that you are doing is unhealthy.  When his level of exercise was reduced by doctors, he then developed withdrawal symptoms that include irritation and depression, just like other addictions.
This addiction is not classified as an addiction to doctors and in medical terminology books. However, more and more doctors are starting to become aware of the problem and are seeking training to help control the problem as well.  There are many terms that are used today in the medicine world that mean “exercise addiction.” These terms include excessive exercise, compulsive exercise, exercise dependence, over exercising and obligatory exercise. These words all address the same problem that “people who exercise to a point that is detrimental to their health,” states IDEA Fitness Journal (Kravitz & Morrisette, 2006).
Just like other addictions, in an exercise addiction there are several correlations to prove that this is a real addiction, not just some made up story.  When becoming addicted to exercise, there are several psychological indicators that prove that you are addicted to anything, including exercise. The behavior of the individual is no long under voluntary control. The addict’s behavior interferes with their normal everyday life. The individual experiences symptoms of withdrawal and without the ‘drug’ of exercise, the behavior of the addict can become mean and hurtful to other people (Kravitz & Morrisette, 2006). This addiction has been investigated and these investiagtions have shown that people can become addicted to exercise, and it is a very similar addiction like being addicted to alcohol, tobacco or other drugs (Gonzalez-Cutre & Sicilia, 2011).
There have been recent approaches to develop and understand how to measure the physiological and psychological symptoms of exercise addiction.  In one example, three people developed an Exercise Dependence Questionnaire in 1997. This measured the effects on the body and on the mind.  This questionnaire was established in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. It was made up 29 items with 8 different subscales where the researchers could analyze, in depth, of how over exercising can affect the body.  Some of the items that characterized a person being exercise dependent were that they stated that “After an exercise session I feel happier about life,” “I exercise to meet other people,” and “I exercise to be healthy.” All of these statements are made up excuses to make it okay that they exercise more than they should (Gonzalez-Cutre & Sicilia, 2011). In 2004, there was a scale to understand how to actually tell if someone is exercise dependent.  This scale is the first set of guidelines to prove that a person is exercise dependent. This is used in different medical books today to tell if a person is “preforming unhealthy exercise.” (Gonzalez-Cutre & Sicilia, 2011).
Stated in the Journal of Sports Sciences, “Recently, concerns have been raised regarding excessive exercise that may manifest itself as exercise dependence, a condition where individuals feel compelled to exercise despite injuries, obligations or attempts to reduce their activity” (Levy, Marchant 2005). The exercise addiction is realized and several people are realizing it. The people who cannot come to believe that this is an addiction, can see that the different studies that have been done have proven to show that this is a real addiction. It may be a small growing addiction, but it is real and it is serious. Nobody ever gives a real reason as to why they don’t believe that this is an addiction, other than saying that exercise is good for you and cannot hurt you. While researching and finding all of my statistics, it is apparent to me and to many researchers that this is a real problem and the body can really be affected by it.