From Elizabeth Hartney's article"

"Most treatments for addiction involve some kind of "talk therapy" or counseling and focus on helping the person with the addiction to figure out why they continue to engage in addictive behaviors, despite problems developing as a result, and more effective ways of managing the feelings that underlie addictive behaviors.

While these approaches to treatment are helpful to many people with addictions, some feel they need an approach that helps with the physical, as opposed to the mental or emotional aspects of addiction. Others find that exercise helps with managing cravings, as a backup therapy to talk therapy. Over the years, exercise has been recognized as a self-help tool among people recovering from addictions as support for recovery, but only recently has exercise been recognized as a treatment for addiction in its own right."

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