ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the place of exercise addiction on the obsessive-compulsive disorder spectrum. It is advocated that exercise addiction is more a compulsive than impulsive dysfunction, according to earlier views. Its compulsive nature is also supported by exercise-induced serotonin activity, increased frontal lobe activity in the brain, and risk avoidance. However, exercise addiction also always involves exercise dependence, as posited by several models despite its compulsive nature. Therefore, when both compulsion and dependence are present, the dysfunctional exercise behavior can reflect a behavioral addiction. The personality correlates are also examined because exercise addiction appears to be connected to them. Indeed, in narcissism, exercise could function as a means of body shaping; in perfectionism may function as a socially acceptable act of coping with adversity; and in neuroticism could assume the role of a mood enhancer regulating the labile mood states. Finally, it is pointed out that at this time, it appears that exercise addiction is a symptom of other psychological dysfunctions rather than a distinct mental disorder. However, idiographic research, following-up survey-based results with in-depth interviews, might generate a different perspective.
