Table of Contents
- Stage of Drug Use
- Psychosocial
- Individual Differences
- Combination with Other Addiction Treatments
- Type of Exercise and Drug
- Timing and Duration
- Summary
Are There Risks to Exercising As a Treatment for Drug Addiction?
In short, yes, there is always a certain amount of risk associated with most of the things we do in life. That doesn’t mean we can’t arm ourselves with the knowledge we need to mitigate those risks. While the benefits of exercise are many for both general health and recovery from addiction, there are certain factors that affect its effectiveness. They are:
- Stage of Drug Use
- Psychosocial
- Individual Differences
- Level and Intensity
- Combination with Other Addiction Treatments
- Type of Exercise and Drug
- Timing and Duration
1. Stage of Drug Use
During the process of addiction, the biochemistry in your brain changes depending on what stage of drug use you’re on. In summary, the stages of addiction may include:
- Initiation
- Drug Dependence
- Withdrawal / Abstinence
- Relapse
The Initiation Stage is the phase between first trying a drug and before addiction takes hold. In this stage, the regulation of dopamine within the reward pathway of the brain is affected by drug use. However, exercise can also affect this dopaminergic transmission, which has important implications for recovery. Exercising in this stage can help prevent the transition into the drug-dependent stage.
During the Drug Dependent stage, characterized by chronic excessive drug overuse, brain adaptations occur which leads to less dopamine being produced. Different pathways start getting affected, for example, the glutamatergic signaling pathway becomes dysregulated in addition to changes in the dopaminergic pathway. A process called neuronal chromatin remodeling also affects expression of the gene, BDNF (brain-derived neurotropic factor), which affects plasticity of the brain and is very involved in addiction during this phase. Exercise affects all of these factors, but in general, is helpful for recovery here.
While undergoing a period of drug Withdrawal or Abstinence, neurological changes occur depending on whether it’s early or late within this stage, which can lead to cravings, negative affect, and anhedonia. In the early stages, less activity is seen in the dopaminergic pathway, which may become sensitized over time into the late stage. Different changes happen in the brain depending on what type of drug is involved and how far into the withdrawal stage they are. Thus, extra caution must be taken here with respect to when exercise routines begin. In this case, it is best to start the routine early into the abstinence phase, as starting later can be detrimental to recovery.
Relapse is more likely to happen after an extended period of abstinence because of the neurological changes that occur over time to the dopaminergic, glutaminergic, and chromatin remodeling processes. In general, though, exercise seems to be a promising means to reduce cravings and relapse. However, there is some evidence suggesting that exercise should be supplemented with other treatment to have any effect at this stage, at least on smoking, although more investigation is needed on the controls for this research.
The field of research is growing on exercise as a treatment for substance abuse, but it looks promising overall. There are some factors that should be considered when exercising for recovery, which will be elaborated on below.
2. Psychosocial
In general, it has been found that teens and adults who exercise are less likely to engage in illicit drug use, which is especially important in avoiding that initiation stage. However, there are certain exceptions depending on gender and type of activity. While smoking was found to be lower for adults who did team sports, alcohol and smokeless tobacco use were elevated. Out-of-school mix gender sports in adolescents saw higher alcohol use within females (skateboarding, gymnastics, dance) while male-dominated sports (football, wrestling) saw more alcohol use within males. In this case, it is said that there are psychosocial aspects in play, where things like peer pressure may increase likelihood of alcohol use. Where research controlled for psychosocial effects, however, it was shown that exercise indeed did decrease alcohol use, and was effective in reducing initial use of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs.
Team sports may be a good way to build rapport, gain community, and get physical activity. However, one should consider some team sports may vary in the level of activity actually achieved, and thus, some sports may be less effective than others. In addition, the psychosocial aspects are an added element of uncertainty. At New Choices, we help control for this by giving you a community of like-minded individuals with similar goals, while having structured programs involving physical activities that will be effective in getting to the level of activity needed to aid in your recovery.
2. Individual Differences
This mostly has to do with genetics, but also environmental factors, as detailed in the above section about psychosocial factors. Biological sex and individual susceptibility to substance abuse will affect results here. Also, it has been noted that adolescents may experience greater benefits from exercising as an alternative to drugs than adults, although both groups benefit.
At New Choices, we consider these differences, and employ a variety of evidence-based experiential methods of addiction therapy to aid in your recovery process. We believe in taking a holistic approach to help you find the best methods to address your individual needs.
3. Level and Intensity
A history of moderate exercise helps prevent later susceptibility to initial drug use, however, a history of high-intensity chronic exercise could actually increase the chances of drug abuse. Since exercise activates some of the same signaling pathways that drugs do in the reward center of the brain, overdoing it could be detrimental, and actually poses risk of developing an exercise addiction.
What this means is, if you had an exercise routine before, it is important to keep up with it. Moderation is key and New Choices can help you prepare a path to it on your journey to recovery.
4. Combination with Other Addiction Treatments
During recovery from drug addiction, a combination of approaches is better than one. This is especially true during relapse, where it is particularly important to supplement exercise with other treatments. It has been found that adding exercise to other treatments enhances recovery, overusing only other treatments or exercise alone. A variety of treatment programs can be found at New Choices, which include and supplement exercise.
5. Type of Exercise and Drug
As mentioned above, psychosocial effects may change the way certain types of activities affect drug use in a team environment. In addition, moderate physical activity could differ greatly from high-intensity activity.
Research has been done on forced exercise as compared to voluntary, with both having generally beneficial results on recovery.
However, some differences were found in some studies, where forced running led to a higher likelihood of returning to pre-abstinence levels of alcohol use as opposed to voluntary running. The story was different for cocaine and nicotine though, where forced and voluntary running had the same beneficial effect, with the caveat being a question of how well animal studies can translate into humans. More research is definitely needed in this growing field. In this case, it may be best to work on the mindset going into exercise so it doesn’t feel like a chore. Joining a group of like-minded people can help with this, and even make it something fun to look forward to.
As for the intrinsic effects of different types of exercises themselves, some research found that running helped prevent initiation of alcohol addiction in women, but for men, running was most effective in preventing cocaine addiction. Suffice to say, a variety of exercise is beneficial in keeping all parts of your body healthy. Crossfit is one way of achieving this variety in a structured manner.
6. Timing and Duration
When you start an exercise regimen is very important. For example, if you start early into your period of abstinence, you are more likely to have success, but starting late, say 30 days after you start your abstinence, means that neuroadaptations will have already been undergoing changes that make you more susceptible to detrimental effects if you start your exercise regimen late. Starting late could actually increase cravings.
During the drug-dependent stage, it was found that even acute (short one-off) bouts of exercise decreased smoking. For many other drugs, it was found that regular exercise training lasting between 2 weeks to 6 months helped to reduce drug use during this stage.
The duration of each exercise session affects relapse behavior too. A workout session done for a longer period of time is typically more effective in curbing drug-seeking. For example, a 2-hour session was more effective than a 1-hour session.
7. Summary
In conclusion, using exercise as a tool for addiction recovery can be very effective and beneficial if done correctly. Below is a summary of the risks involved in the process, but they can be mitigated:
- Team sports may increase the chances of alcohol and smokeless tobacco use due to psychosocial factors. Choosing a team that avoids the use of drugs would be best.
- A history of chronic high intensity exercise may exacerbate addiction to drugs. Keeping the same exercise routine will help.
- Moderate exercise in general yields better results than prolonged high intensity exercise. Don’t overdo it if you haven’t in the past.
- Beginning an exercise regimen during the late stages of abstinence can lead to increased cravings. Start as early as you can and avoid beginning during the late stage.
Some further advice follows below:
- Exercise is most effective when supplemented with other therapies.
- A longer session is more effective than a shorter one.
As you can see, there are many benefits of exercise that aid in your recovery from substance abuse, and these benefits mostly outweigh the risks. There are also other health benefits to it, such as improving mood and sleep, relieving stress, reducing risk of heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. Overall, it’s very good for the mind and body.
The experts at New Choices can help you find the right balance for your recovery process.
