Adults & Compulsive Exercise: A Symptom of Anorexia Nervosa?

Everything in moderation, even the good things. This can be difficult for some people, those who have compulsions or perhaps an obsession. Anorexia Nervosa is a mental condition that manifests as an obsession with body self image. An Anorexia Nervosa patient is consumed by how they look, how they perceive themselves when they look at or consider their body and its current condition as a result of what they eat or how much they’re exercising.

Most Anorexia Nervosa patients will heavily limit their food intake. Some will, or will also, spend hours on physical activity in an effort to burn calories and lose weight. These patients are unable to maintain a healthy body image; they see what others would usually consider a healthy appearance as something that needs to be trimmed down with additional weight loss. Some Anorexia Nervosa patients will go to very extreme lengths to pursue these extremely unhealthy goals of modifying their weight in an effort to look and feel thinner.

Some Warning Signs of Compulsive Exercise:

• Exercise that interferes with important life activities or occurs at inappropriate times.
• Anxiety, depression, or guilt when you can’t exercise.
• Unrealistic worry over a missed exercise session.
• Rigid in your exercise regimen.
• Discomfort or distress over inactivity.
• Overtraining because you feel not good enough.

Anorexia Nervosa has physical symptoms, and is dangerous to physical health, but is a mental disorder. If it’s left untreated, Anorexia Nervosa patients can cause serious damage to themselves as they compulsively avoid food and spend hours working to keep their metabolism high. A psychologist is the best person to help an Anorexia Nervosa patient get past their disorder.