Anonymous Story

“I’ve always been into sport and exercise and it’s always been a hobby of mine. When I was 20 years old I moved to Spain for a year of study. Couple of months before moving, my dad sadly passed away. To move to a new country with a foreign language, all by yourself- is not easy, and perhaps even more so challenging while you’re grieving.

During my year in Spain I found a lot of comfort and support in my training at the gym. It became an obsession but at the same time a coping mechanism for me. When I trained, it was the only time I could really focus on that and nothing else. It gave me balance to those days when emotions were particularly difficult to deal with.

People turn to different things or distractions to better cope with certain feelings, and that’s ok. Although, it’s important to be mindful of the intensity and duration of your behaviours to ensure these distractions won’t impair your daily functioning (such as going to work, go to a lecture, meet up with friends) or start to take away opportunities from you.  

Controlled exercise sure does have tremendous health benefits. I like to think that my year in Spain, despite its challenges, has helped me pursue my aspirations of an academic career in psychology. Today, I continue to train because I genuinely enjoy it”.