Does Exercise Really Help To Overcome Addiction

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[et_pb_column type="4_4"][et_pb_text admin_label="Text"] Do you find yourself wanting to do something and cannot get enough of, like playing a game on PS4 or eating doughnuts every day?

Do your friends or parents see that as an addiction? Well, it's most certainly not; addiction is an illness that needs to be treated like any other. It comes in many forms and shapes; gambling, obsessive sex, drugs, and alcohol are all types of addiction.

Addiction differs from a person to another how excessively involved, they are and which substance or behavior they're involved in. However, we're going to answer a frequently asked question about if exercise can help in beating addiction.

It's A Tough Journey

It is a hard, yet a brave decision for an addict to go through medical treatment in a hospital or an institution. For that reason, doctors usually suggest support-group treatments to help patients feel that they're not alone in their recovery journey.

Doctors at Valley Recovery Center figured out that medical care will not work alone since addiction is a serious illness that needs more than one method to be cured.

Medications and support groups have a critical role in the treatment process; however, it's been found that exercise too can be as important.

It's Been Proven

Researches and experiments performed on animals prove that exercise has a high effect on curing addiction. Some rats have been injected with substances like alcohol and morphine, and it's been found that those exercising on running wheels in their cages could dispense drugs more than those who didn’t exercise.

The same thing applies to humans; the patient who is keen on practicing any kind of sport has a faster treatment course than this who doesn’t practice at all.

Types of Exercises

When doctors or scientists suggest exercise for treating addiction , they don’t specify a certain type of activity that a patient has to do. Any physical activity a patient likes and can do is a perfect exercise.

A simple activity like walking can make a huge difference in a patient's life since it can help in fighting cravings. Yoga is one of the most suggested exercises as it is a fantastic way to ease anxiety and stress, and it puts the body in a meditative state that hinders relapse. Cardio exercises are also great since they help in restoring normal sleep patterns.

Why it is Important

An addicts' life revolves around the substance or the behavior they're addicted to, so when they decide to stop this addiction, they're left with a lot of spare time and nothing to do.

Exercises, however, give patients what they need to fill their time and not think about their addiction. The time consumed in getting ready, working out, and cleaning up after is enough to distract the addict. Exercising releases endorphins that are usually released by drugs in the body, which has pleasant effects physically and mentally.

Overcoming addiction could be the hardest thing in an addict's life. Therefore, there are various ways to deal with it to help to defeat it. No one can deny the importance of medications and support groups; however, it's been proven that exercise has a tremendous effect on surviving addiction. It doesn’t matter what kind of work out a patient can do as long as they involve their body in physical activity.

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