So, is sport an addiction or not?
My apologies, I do not think I have formed a definite opinion. My view so far is that sport can lead a person to significant impairments in social life. I cannot discredit the potential for a relationship between family problems and intense participation with sports. Experience has shown me that some people’s level of functionality depends grossly on doing certain activities, similar to addictions. It may be that my difficulty to fully accept it as an addiction is that I am sort of a Fitness junky too. I do not see sport as bad. I actually feel that society needs more of it. I almost use the term ‘junky’ proudly. Like many other athletes who actually described themselves as ‘addicts’. The positive connotations with it may lead me to resist other negative consequences which can be real. I understand that there are times in the lives of an athlete were focus on the sport is absolute. However I feel that if a sport takes over one’s life, it can be problematic. I reiterate again that obsessions are not healthy. The parallels are tantalising. However, this conversation has only led me to become more curious to find stronger conclusions. This is definitely an area which requires more research.
– Steve Libreri is a social worker and parent coach within Willingness. He offers parent coaching and social work sessions. He can be contacted on steve@willingness.com.mt.