Roid Rage – Myth or Monster ?

“How important is your life?”

“How much importance do you give to your health?”

“Is a title or an award more valuable than your life?”

These are few questions bubbling in my mind when every other day I read about sports especially bodybuilding and doping. While the world is turning towards holistic health approach and aesthetic physique why do we carry a casual attitude towards deaths due to steroid misuse? Are we health experts not doing enough to spread the awareness or the government is to be blamed off for licensing the sale of these drugs or the sports federations are being corrupt or ignorant that they don’t care for the lives or the bodybuilders despite knowing the side effects still administer these drugs just to win a title? Put the blame on anyone but the fact doesn’t change that it is costing human life. I DON’T CARE attitude is leading to disaster in youths which is a serious matter of concern which should be addressed as soon as possible by the concerned departments as well as every one of us.

Case reports indicate that anabolic steroids increase irritability and aggression. People who misuse them report more anger than nonusers, as well as more fights, verbal aggression, and violence toward their significant others, sometimes called “roid rage.” One study suggests that the mood and behavioral effects seen during anabolic-androgenic steroid misuse may result from secondary hormonal changes.

Scientists have attempted to test the association between anabolic steroids and aggression by administering high steroid doses or placebo for days or weeks to human volunteers and then assessing behavioural symptoms. In one such study, researchers found that testosterone over a six week period was associated with increased aggression, as assessed by a questionnaire and computer-based model of aggressive behavior. In addition, high steroid doses produced greater feelings of irritability and aggression than placebo, although the effects appear to be highly variable across individuals, and other studies have not shown that effect.

Teens that use anabolic steroids may also be at increased risk for some cognitive side effects compared with adults. For example, males who begin using these steroids during the teen years show increased impulsivity and decreased attention, compared to men who began using steroids in their adult years.

Are anabolic steroids addictive?

An undetermined percentage of steroid users may develop a steroid use disorder. Substance use disorders are defined by continued use despite adverse consequences; for steroid users, these may include physical or psychological problems such as breast growth (in men), sexual dysfunction, high blood pressure, excessive fats in the blood, heart disease, mood swings, severe irritability, or aggressiveness. Anabolic steroid users also may give up other important activities for fear that they will miss workouts, violate their dietary restrictions, or be prevented from using steroids. Steroid users also typically spend large amounts of time and money obtaining the drugs, and they may try to reduce or stop anabolic steroid use without success—possibly due to depression, anxiety about losing muscle mass, or and other unpleasant effects of withdrawal.

Withdrawal from steroids occurs when an individual develops dependence. A review of the research suggests that about 32 percent of people who misuse anabolic steroids become dependent. Symptoms of dependence can include tolerance, which needs to take more steroids to achieve the same effects. Another indicator of dependence is withdrawal once use stops. Withdrawal symptoms can include fatigue, restlessness, and loss of appetite, insomnia, reduced sex drive, and steroid cravings. The most dangerous of the withdrawal symptoms is depression, because it sometimes leads to suicide attempts.

Following are few cases in the history of bodybuilding which are reported due to steroid misuse:

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