We are (fortunately) used to reading scientific articles about the positive effects of physical exercise for our health, both physical and mental. Of course, these benefits have already been amply corroborated by science and we should always keep them in mind when imposing a discipline of healthy habits on ourselves.
Of course, it is important not to forget that practically any activity, if carried out improperly, it can be harmful; This principle also extends to sports, as indicated by a recent study published in the prestigious specialized media Frontiers in Psychology.
two kinds of escapism
Specifically, the authors of this work, attached to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology refer to the exercise dependencea form of behavioral addiction (to a behavior, rather than a substance) widely documented in the scientific literature and observed even in runners amateur.
Thus, they theorize that, in many cases, this dependency may be the result of a certain ‘use’ of the activity: in this case, as a means of escapism from various stressful factors in daily life.
Still, it’s important to note one distinction this research makes: Not only is escapism not always harmful behavior, but it can often be adaptive. In this way, an adaptive escapism would be the one that leads the person to seek positive experiences, while a maladaptive one It would be the one that seeks to avoid negative experiences.
The origin of the addiction to exercise
To investigate the relationship between the use of running As a means of escapism and the development of exercise dependence, the researchers recruited 227 volunteer recreational runners who had them fill out questionnaires investigating different aspects of escapism and exercise dependence. Based on this, established three scales: one that moved from adaptive to maladaptive escapism, another that measured the degree of dependence on exercise, and another that quantified the life satisfaction of the participants.
Through this method, they came to the conclusion that, indeed, those who tended to adaptive escape modes They showed greater life satisfaction than those who practiced maladaptive escapism. The most interesting thing occurred when comparing the scale of escapism with that of dependence on exercise; although both extremes of escapism were associated with some degree of dependency, the association was much stronger for participants who tended toward maladaptive escapism.
Something to keep in mind is that, due to the nature of this study, it cannot be inferred a causality in any of the relationships, nor the meaning of the relationship itself. For example, a higher degree of dependence on exercise was associated with lower life satisfaction, but it is not possible to state with certainty that one factor is the cause of the other or vice versa.
Nevertheless, and although they stress the need to carry out more studies on the issue with different methodologies, the authors believe that there are reasons to suspect that the maladaptive escapism behaviors they may favor the development of dependencies to exercise, a notion that may be of clinical relevance, for example, when psychotherapeutically coping with this addiction.
References
Frode Stenseng, Ingvild Bredvei Steinshold, Beate Wold Hygen & Pål Kraft. Running to get “lost”? Two types of escapism in recreational running and their relations to exercise dependence and subjective well-being. Frontiers in Psychology (2023). DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1035196