Bigorexia, this addiction to sport, a really “positive” addiction?

Noah is 18 years old, with blonde curls, a youthful face and the body of a bodybuilder. The high school student spends between thirty minutes and two hours a day lifting weights, doing push-ups and doing sheathing. He then posted the photos of his abs on his Instagram account, followed by more than 1,600 people. Between the hashtag “sexy” and “summerbody”, he sometimes adds that of “bigorexia”. A word qualifying the addiction to sport, recognized as a disease by the World Health Organization since 2011.

If this pathology is found in the middle of positive qualifiers, it is because, unlike other addictions, that to physical exercise is viewed favorably. And yet, it can lead to sports burnout, recurrent injuries and other pathologies.

A “positive” addiction?

The term “positive addiction” was first used in 1976 by American sports psychiatrist and physician William Glasser. “It is an addiction whose sociological, societal and psychological construction makes it positive,” explains psychiatrist Dan Velea. Addiction to sport or work would be opposed to negative addictions, those to drugs or alcohol.

“It’s the best disease you can catch,” Noah laughs. Alicia, a 22-year-old psychomotor student, shares the same opinion. She ran 245 kilometers in March, more than the distance between Paris and Lille. Both are aware of being bigorexic but feel that they do not suffer from it. When she came across an article about bigorexia, Laurène, 28, felt proud. “I said to myself: ‘you exercise excessively, but sport, everyone says it’s good for your health”. “

A societal valuation

In the beginning, physical exercise is beneficial for the person who exercises it regularly. “There is a discharge of dopamine, serotonin, the pleasure molecule” and the well-being for the brain is immediate. “Addiction to sport also helps build self-esteem,” recalls Dan Velea. Alicia was 20 when she did her first marathon. The minimum age required. A dream finally realized of which she is extremely proud.

For his part, Noah goes from S to L in a year. He now has a body that pleases and is approached by ready-to-wear brands. On their Insta accounts, everyone is praised for their performance, their muscles and their time. “Today, appearance is a value in the relational and business world”, analyzes the psychiatrist. “So excessive practice of sport becomes an asset in the eyes of those around them and the company. “

Even when he can’t take it anymore, Noah continues to exercise. ” I find that funny. I say to myself “who would have had the courage to do it?” “A pride shared by Laurène, who forced herself to leave her home at five in the morning, even in a downpour, to do her daily jog. “When I was running, I thought about the end, when I was finally going to be able to share it on the networks and where people were going to say to me ‘How are you doing? Even I would not have had this motivation! ””

An addiction that is not without danger

“Despite the fact that people take refuge in a positive concept, there are dangers,” warns the addictologist. Above all, it is the intensity that characterizes addiction. Increase the pace, for example, but also not allow yourself a day of rest. Laurène did an hour of running and an hour of weight training each day. Seven days a week. “I used to hurt myself a lot because I didn’t have a recovery. Muscle cannot be built. The body is constantly in demand. “

Laurène, Noah, Cora and Alicia have all collected injuries. Muscle contractures, tendonitis, fractures, regardless of the pain… The total cessation of sport, even for a short period, seemed unthinkable to them. “If I couldn’t run anymore, I would do some muscle building to avoid doing nothing,” Alicia admits. Noah admits to working his upper body when his legs are injured, and vice versa.

“People suffering from bigorexia are people who, despite illnesses and fairly repetitive injuries, still practice their physical exercises,” says Dan Velea. Until, at times, even more alarming signals emerge. Cora has not had her period for several years due to her excessive practice. “At 20, we say to ourselves that it’s okay because we don’t want children, we don’t have time for training and that would impact our performance. “

Eating disorders and dissociability

This permanent control is also felt in the plate. “Bigorexics have a very calibrated diet in relation to sports,” explains the addictologist. Some people go on a restrictive diet that involves burning fat and losing weight. Others, in the majority, seek to gain muscle mass, often with a high protein diet. Laurène is part of the first category. As she increases the number of hours spent in the gym, the amount of food she ingests decreases. “My goal was above all to lose weight. At the end of the day, I could eat just one apple. I had enormous deficiencies and enormous weaknesses. The young woman loses weight and sinks into anorexia.

Dietary restrictions and excessive exercise rarely go hand in hand with a busy social life. Cora begins to decline the invitations of her friends “for fear of committing an excess”. When Laurene accepts them, she dozes off on the sofa in the middle of the evening, for fear of being tired the next day and not being able to do her daily exercises. “These are people who no longer have other interests, who play sports to the detriment of their social, professional and family life,” adds Dan Velea.

Withdrawal syndrome and psychological distress

Because bigorexia is indeed an addiction. If people who have it do not practice their session, “they may have a withdrawal syndrome equivalent to that of other substances such as alcohol or hard drugs.” A lack that they absolutely must fill. For Laurène, the pleasure of playing sports quickly turned into a duty. In winter, she puts on her headlamp at 5 a.m. and goes running before dawn. In the evening, she forces herself to do her hour of bodybuilding even if she is exhausted from her day’s work.

Many times she would have liked to leave her sneakers in the closet. But it was stronger than her. “I was like ‘if you don’t do it, you won’t be able to allow yourself to eat a tiny little bit and you won’t have the body you dream of’. Cora inflicts the same program on herself. The young woman goes on trails and bike rides. In the evening, she locks herself in the weight room until exhaustion. One day, the diagnosis falls: burn-out linked to sport. She is forced to rest.

Sport as an escape

Today, the 30-something is trying to cut back on the hours she spends exercising. With hindsight and a therapeutic follow-up for a year, she recognizes that sport served to fill a void. “I was running so I wouldn’t have to come home, so I wouldn’t have to face my problems and be alone with myself. “

“Following a difficult moment in life, sports can come as a kind of self-medication,” says Dan Velea. For the psychiatrist, excessive physical exercise can hide multiple sufferings, such as a disturbance of self-image, a difficult relationship, a trauma in the past or an eating disorder. “People who are going through real mental suffering need the advice of a specialized psychiatrist,” insists the addictologist. Since her follow-up, Cora has been feeling a little better. But she fears the deconfinement and the reopening of sports clubs.