When Health Becomes An Obsession

HEALTH IS ABOUT BALANCE – AND THERE ARE DANGERS AT BOTH ENDS OF THE SCALE. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PEOPLE TAKE ‘GOOD HEALTH’ TO EXTREME DEGREES?

We’re all aware of the benefits of a balanced diet and regular exercise, and many of us strive to maintain or improve our health. For some, however, the journey towards self-improvement can end up being all-consuming and become a distressing obsession. While women have always been bombarded with media representations and social pressures dictating what the ‘perfect’ body should look like, the conversation’s shifted and been re-branded as something that, at first glance, appears to be more legitimate than simply ‘women should be thin’. But women today are under pressure to be more than thin – the focus has become living a ‘healthy lifestyle’, with trends like juicing, fasting, cleansing, detoxing and various fad diets filling their timelines. Many men, too, are now experiencing a dangerous amount of pressure to keep up with what they believe to be the pursuit of good health.

EXCESSIVE EXERCISE

Health and fitness blogs continually encourage us to stay fit, and just about every health and wellness article you come across suggests exercise as a means of improving not only your physical, but also your mental wellbeing. Exercise is, indeed, foundational to good health, but – taken to extremes – it can be an indicator of mental illness and can lead to physical illness and injury. Symptoms of an unhealthy obsession with exercise include:

• Forgoing a balanced lifestyle and making exercise the top priority in life.
• Frequently missing family and social events in order to exercise.
• Continuing to exercise even when sick or injured.
• Being utterly rigid and inflexible about your exercise regime.
• Ignoring negative physical effects of excessive exercise, such as extreme pain, fatigue or injury.
• Ignoring medical advice to exercise less intensely or less frequently.

DANGERS OF EXCESSIVE EXERCISE