Sport in harmful doses

When we think of addiction, most people think of it as the use of various substances. Behavioural addictions, which include sports addiction, are less well known. Even though exercise addiction is rather difficult to define, it is understood to be a "compulsive, uncontrollable and excessive desire to exercise", according to Hamadou Zarmakoye, psychologist and psychotherapist at the Centre for Excessive Behaviour and Behavioural Addiction (ZEV). Those affected by sports addiction are constantly preoccupied with wanting to do sports activities and are unable to control their flow of thoughts. As a result, their passion for sport develops into a compulsion.

Sports psychologist Lee Biver explains that sports addiction cannot be clearly differentiated from other mental illnesses, as in most cases it is closely linked to other mental abnormalities or disorders. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), a standardised classification system for mental disorders, sports addiction is not yet recognised as a diagnosis in its own right. It is officially regarded more as a "concomitant of various mental disorders, such as eating disorders or obsessive-compulsive disorders, " says Biver. In this case, it is also referred to as secondary sports addiction. There is also a risk of confusion between sports addiction and a simple passion for sport.