After a month or so of not being able to get to the wall (thanks, pandemic withdrawal), I started ticking off the 9 signs you’re seriously addicted to climbing, and yeah, I hit basically all of them.
Climbing, just like a lot of other exercise, floods you with endorphins and kicks off the release of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin.
So it’s no wonder we all notice how much better our mood and headspace feel after a session.
Real addiction to chemical compounds is seriously heavy and complicated, and I don’t want to take anything away from that by writing this. But I did think it was funny how easy it was to line up the way I feel about climbing (and the way a lot of climbers feel) with the actual signs of addiction.
While I was poking around on the topic, I found a legit article on Bustle about the signs of addiction, and I wanted to share it here along with the parallels a lot of us will recognize right away.
Especially #9. I’ve leaned on climbing hard as a way to destress and hit a zen/flow state that I just don’t get from anything else.
You Keep Doing It Even Though There Are Clear Negative Consequences
According to Bustle, the number one sign you might be addicted to something is that you keep doing it despite the consequences.
And in climbing, we do a lot of things despite the consequences. Not counting safety stuff (because driving a car can be just as risky).
You climb with flappers and torn tips. How many times have you taped a flapper down and kept going? And then the next day, even though it hurts and you know it needs rest to heal, you’re back on the wall…
You climb with your feet screaming from being crammed into shoes that don’t really fit. Go ahead and Google image search climber feet if you want to see some genuinely nasty pictures of what happens when you jam your toes into tiny shoes. And yet, we all keep doing it. (If you want to get the fit dialed instead, here’s our guide on how your climbing shoes should fit.)
You Pass Up Social Situations Where You Can’t Partake
How many times have you picked climbing over some other plan that had nothing to do with climbing?
My most common version of this is skipping a friend’s house-warming or my brother’s Harry Potter party because it lands at the same time as my regular climbing session.
Or, even more likely, you bail on game night on Saturday because you’re driving out to a new crag and there’s no way you’re making it back in time…
You Suffer Withdrawal If You Attempt To Stop
According to research published in the National Library of Medicine, rock climbers seem to experience withdrawal symptoms when they can’t climb that look a lot like what you’d see with substance and behavioral addictions.
If you feel down or anxious when you miss a session, you’re probably going through some version of withdrawal.
Scrolling social media and rewatching old climbing videos, or liking photos of people on a route you’ve never even heard of, is honestly kind of sad and it definitely doesn’t fix anything. But it’s also been super common for those of us stuck at home. If a long layoff is what got you here, we’ve got some quick tips for getting back into climbing after a long break for when you can finally get back on the wall.
Or, and this is one I’ve genuinely thought about, you might start eyeing your apartment deposit and wondering if you should just throw it at a home wall instead. Which, in the moment, feels like exactly the fix you need to feel better.
You Attempt To Keep Your Use Secret
When we first get into climbing, it sneaks into every single conversation. But after enough friends and family point out that climbing is dangerous, or hint (without quite saying it) that it’s not as cool as you think it is, you start getting choosier about who you bring it up with.
For example, you might quietly stop mentioning climbing to your parents because you don’t want them to know it’s the only thing on your mind.
Your Tolerance Is Increasing
That rush you felt sending your first V1 gets harder to recreate the harder you climb. So you end up climbing harder and longer just to feel that same hit.
Now, climbing harder and longer is a genuine achievement and a great sign your climbing is improving. But it’s also a hint that your body is getting more tolerant, and it wants more to give you the same chemical payoff you got when you first started. This is also part of why climbing is such a mental sport and not just a physical one.
The other thing to watch is that creeping sense of “comfort” with risk. For example, like you might have seen in Free Solo (watch it on Prime here), a climber’s brain can go a little “numb” to fear over time.
You Can’t Seem To Stop Yourself
Even when something important comes up and needs your time and attention, you somehow find a way to shuffle your schedule and turn down other plans so nothing gets in the way of your regular sessions.
You Take Risks And Make Disproportionate Sacrifices For It
Risk is nothing new in climbing. The more comfortable you get, the more you’ll gamble to reach the next hold or finally send your project.
The risk of falling and splitting your chin open (yep, it happened, it hurt a lot, and somehow I still climb…) just doesn’t seem to register when you weigh it against how good it’ll feel to send that climb.
You Make Excuses When Other People Act Concerned
You’ve probably got a canned answer ready for when someone asks “isn’t climbing dangerous?” For me it’s usually something like “there are a ton of safety precautions that help prevent injury” or “yeah, but no more dangerous than any other sport, especially contact sports.”
And you’ve almost certainly made a hundred little excuses to friends and family who’ve shared their concerns about your climbing adventures (or obsession).
You Feel You Need It To Deal With Your Problems
This one really stuck with me. I have this deep sense that climbing helps me destress and work through whatever life throws at me. It’s already proven to be a great way to drop into a zen or flow state, and that feeling sticks around for a good while after the session too.
For example, when my grandpa died, I used climbing to process everything, emotionally and mentally. I probably doubled my time at the gym because that sense of zen and flow while climbing was the thing that helped. If you want to get more out of that headspace, jotting things down afterward helps too. Here’s what to record in a climbing journal.
If you want more climbing in your week without a full life takeover, our free newsletter sends one short drill you can do in about 15 minutes. You can level up your climbing with 15 minutes of training and keep the fun without giving up your whole calendar.
Final Thoughts On The 9 Signs You’re Seriously Addicted To Climbing
Climbing, like plenty of other sports, pumps out endorphins that make it easy to get a little hooked. What sets it apart is that the satisfaction and zen you get from it is genuinely unmatched by any other sport, exercise, or activity. If you want the fuller list of what it’s doing for you, check out the health benefits of climbing backed by research.
All of that is exactly why climbing lines up so neatly with the serious signs of addiction from the Bustle article.
Most climbers don’t really have to worry about the downsides of their climbing habit. But I can’t wrap this up without saying that if you’re addicted to anything, there is help available to you.
Frequently asked questions
What are the signs you’re addicted to climbing?
The signs mirror the classic markers of addiction: you keep climbing despite flappers and beat-up feet, you pass on social plans to climb, you feel withdrawal when you can’t get to the wall, you get cagey about how much you talk about it, your tolerance goes up so you chase harder sends, you can’t stop yourself, you take bigger risks, you make excuses when people worry, and you lean on it to deal with stress.
Is being addicted to climbing actually bad for you?
For most climbers, no. The endorphins, the flow state, and the mood boost are genuinely good for you, and most people never deal with real negative consequences. That said, if you’re addicted to anything and it’s affecting your life, there is help available through the national helpline.
Can you really go through withdrawal from climbing?
Kind of, yeah. Research published in the National Library of Medicine found that rock climbers can experience withdrawal-like symptoms when they can’t climb, comparable to what you’d see with substance and behavioral addictions. If you feel low or anxious when you miss sessions, that’s probably what’s going on.
Why does climbing feel so addictive compared to other sports?
Climbing releases endorphins along with dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin, which is why your mood lifts after a session. On top of the chemical side, it’s also a deeply mental sport, and the zen or flow state you drop into while problem-solving on the wall is hard to get anywhere else.
How do I climb more without it taking over my whole life?
Short, focused sessions help a lot. Instead of living at the gym, you can add small, high-value work in about 15 minutes at a time. Our free weekly newsletter sends one short drill you can knock out in about 15 minutes, so you keep improving without giving up your whole calendar.
