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Chapter 1 - Exercise Addiction

Evolution and Challenges for Its Recognition as a Clinical Disorder

from Section 1 - From Exercise to Addiction: An Introduction to the Phenomenon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 March 2023

By
Álvaro Sicilia ,
Manuel Alcaraz-Ibáñez ,
Adrian Paterna  and
Mark D. Griffiths
Edited by
Ornella Corazza  and
Artemisa Rocha Dores
Ornella Corazza
Affiliation:
University of Hertfordshire and University of Trento, Italy
Artemisa Rocha Dores
Affiliation:
Polytechnic Institute of Porto and University of Porto, Portugal
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Summary

The potential negative effects of exercise addiction (EA) were first reported over 50 years ago, but it has only recently been formally recognized as a disorder in the leading clinical manuals. The inclusion of exercise behaviour as a potentially addictive behaviour will require greater consensus on how to define this disorder, with diagnostic criteria and course descriptions clearly supported by scientific evidence, and on how to categorize it in relation to other mental disorders. This chapter presents an overview of attempts to identify the defining features of EA, the development of instruments to measure it, estimates of its prevalence, and the main strategies for treating it. The diverse terminology used to describe this disorder reflects both the range of perspectives from which it has been examined, and the different manifestations of EA. The chapter concludes by recognizing that the development and validation of specific diagnostic criteria for EA pose many challenges.

Keywords

diagnostic criteriaexercise addictionmental disorderproblematic exercisetreatment
Type
Chapter
Information
The Body in the Mind
Exercise Addiction, Body Image and the Use of Enhancement Drugs
 , pp. 1 - 24
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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