Over-exercising, Over Activity - Treatment for Over-exercising and Over Activity

Written by HealthyPlace.com Staff Writer

Treatment for an Activity Disorder

The principles of treatment for individuals with activity disorders are similar to those with eating disorders. Medical issues must be handled, and residential or inpatient treatment may be necessary to curtail the exercise and to deal with depression or suicidality, but most cases should be able to be treated on an outpatient basis unless the activity disorder and an eating disorder coexist. This combination can present a serious situation rather quickly. When lack of nutrition is combined with hours of exercise, the body gets broken down at a rapid pace, and residential or inpatient treatment is often required.

Sometimes hospitalization is encouraged to patients as a way to relieve the vicious cycle of nutrient deprivation combined with exercise before a breakdown occurs. Activity disordered individuals often recognize that they need help to stop and know that they cannot do it with outpatient treatment alone. Eating disorder treatment programs are probably the best choice for hospitalizing those with activity disorder. An eating disorder facility that has a special program for athletes or compulsive exercisers would be ideal. (See the description of The Monte Nido Residential Treatment Facility on pages 251 - 274).

Therapy for an Activity Disorder

It is important to keep in mind that activity disordered people tend to be highly intelligent, internally driven, independent individuals. They will most likely resist any kind of vulnerability such as going for treatment unless they become injured or face some kind of ultimatum. Excessive activity protects these individuals against desiring to get close, to take in something from another, or to depend on anyone.

Therapists will have to maintain a calm, caring stance with the goal of helping the individual define what he or she needs, rather than focusing on taking things away. Another therapeutic task is to help the individual receive and internalize the soothing functions the therapist can provide, thus promoting relationships over activity.

THERAPEUTIC ISSUES TO DISCUSS IN THE TREATMENT OF ACTIVITY DISORDER

• Overactivity of mind or body
• Body image
• Overcontrol of the body
• Disconnection from the body
• Body care and self-care
• Black-and-white thinking
• Unrealistic expectations
• Tension tolerance
• Communicating feelings
• Ruminations
• The meaning of rest
• Intimacy and separateness

The following section discusses a problem that is the polar opposite of too much activity exercise resistance. "Exercise resistance" is a fairly new term used to describe an intense reluctance to exercise, particularly seen in women.

Eating Disorders: Exercise Resistance in Women

by Francie White, M.S., R.D.

Just as binge eating disorder lies at the opposite end of the disordered eating spectrum from anorexia nervosa, exercise resistance is an activity disorder at the opposite end of the spectrum from addictive or compulsive exercise. As a dietitian specializing in eating disorders, I have noticed a common phenomenon in women with emotional overeating patterns, many of whom qualify as having binge eating disorder.

These women often suffer from entrenched inactivity patterns that are resistant to intervention or treatment. Many professionals assume that inactivity is due to factors such as a harried lifestyle, industrialization, laziness, and, in overweight individuals, the discouraging factor of physical difficulty or discomfort in moving. Behavior modification counseling programs, use of specialized personal trainers, and other types of motivational strategies to encourage a physically active lifestyle seem to be ineffective.

Over a three-year period, beginning in 1993, I began exploring what I call "exercise resistance" in a binge eating disordered population of six groups of ten to twenty women each. The following information is what emerged from studying these groups.

For many women with a history of body image problems, moderate to severe overeating histories, and/or a history of repeated attempts at weight loss, exercise resistance is a common syndrome that requires specialized treatment. Remaining inactive or physically passive appears to be an important aspect of the psychological defense system within the eating disorder itself, providing a balance of sorts from the psychological discomfort that accompanies exercising. This psychological discomfort varies from moderate to severe anxiety and is related to a profound sense of physical and emotional vulnerability.

Underactivity or physical passivity appears to offer a sense of control over body and feelings, just as disordered eating and over-exercise do. Exercise resistance may simply be another component in the menu of options from which men and women find themselves suffering in this time of epidemic eating and body image problems. If we are to begin to look at exercise resistance as a separate syndrome worthy of specialized understanding and treatment, here are some factors to consider.