Fitness became an addiction that left me anxious and sleep deprived
Wayne Davies from Newtown in Powys took up running to keep fit, then escalated from casual jogs to marathons and gruelling ultra-distance races around the Llŷn Peninsula. He became obsessed first with ever longer distances and then with times, and says falling short felt like the end of the world. At his lowest point his sleep suffered, his concentration declined and anxiety bled into the rest of his life, like the rug being pulled from under his feet. An expert says search traffic for fitness addiction has risen in recent months as society talks more honestly about these behaviours.
For you: Worth knowing that training can tip from healthy habit into compulsion: worsening sleep, slipping concentration and dread around results are the warning signs described here.
What it shows: Reported by BBC News (health) and not verified by us: we could not trace this story to a published paper, so treat it as news rather than evidence we have checked.