The reason's I am writing about this, is as follows;
1/ Most Steroid work/research is done on the physiological effects as that is what the drug's purpose is to increase strength and size. Little has been published in mainstream media about the mental effects. We already know the adverse health effects of steroids, one popular example being the Greg Valentino (used synthol and steroids)case https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPkiRBkSnwg
2/ I did an exam on this at University (so I have all the journals next to me as I write this haha). I personally found it very interesting to write about and learn.
This article is my own views and my own opinion. I am not here to ruffle feathers or cause a massive argument. What I am here to do as an academic studying a science-based degree (Applied Sports Science), is to create a discussion on particular topics. I don't encourage the use of PED's but I have many friends who do use them and I don't treat them any differently. It's their life, let them live it how they choose. They know the risks as it is a drug and all drugs have their safe limits (recommended dosage). We only hear of the dangerous effects of steroids and PED's as people exceed these safe dosages in the pursuit to be World and Olympic Championships. Dave Tate of Elite FTS talks about steroids on how they have advanced sporting performance and are "an athletes ace card". Video is called Human Potential (Dave Tate) Playing your Ace card https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7WUHVA9lqE.
They are banned because they give an unfair advantage, but if everyone is using them in a sport is their use still unfair or do they level the playing field?. Lance Armstrong when told he was a cheater looked up the definition of a cheater which was "to gain an unfair advantage over someone". He then replied "I was not cheating" thereby implying everyone else was too. The most famous drug cheat is probably Ben Johnson Men's 100m won gold then had it stripped from him for the use of anabolic steroids. He was labelled a cheat and failure but many people don't realise is that the person who was given gold (Carl Lewis) he was also caught using a PED months before the event (watch Bigger Stronger Faster documentary link down below explains it all).
We will be touching upon a range of areas within in this piece including;
- Body Image
- Eating Disorders
- Steroidphobia
- Peer Reviewed Paper "Psychological Effects of Endogoenous Testosterone and Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids (50 papers in this). Majority of the article will be centred around this section. The rest will be linked in as all the above ties in with each other.
- Summary
1: Body Image
Body Image is how you view your Physical Self and Self Efficacy is how you value yourself. These two are heavily influenced by intrinsic and extrinsic factors such as the opinions of peers, family, friends, work, social affluence, social class etc. If one isn't happy with how they look or feel they may take "drastic" methods to try and change the way they feel/look. This is linked in with Body Dysmorphia, as it is a disorder that involves the belief that one's own appearance is unusually defective and is not worthy of being shown in public and or it needs fixing.
2: Eating Disorders
These include reducing body weight at an alarming rate
- Anorexia Nervosa/Anorexia Athletica
Intense fear of gaining weight, refusal to maintain bodyweight, excessive exercise in terms of FITT principle (Frequency, Intensity, Type, Time), rarely satisfied with efforts, obsessed with exercise sacrificing relationships and work.
- Bulimia Nervosa
Frequent changes in bodyweight, reoccurring episodes of binge eating, engaging in recurrent inappropriate compensatory behaviour to prevent weight gain.
On the other side increasing size
- Bigorexia (also known as muscle dysmorphia)
Distorted body image, individuals see themselves as being too small, common among bodybuilders. This can lead to athletes taking substances to gain rapid size and or increase in strength (baseball players is one example). This will be discussed heavily in the paper later on.
The paper is by Michel Bahrke of Human Kinetics Publishers (full reference is at end of article)
Now to look at the psychological effects of taking Anabolic Steroids from a range of scenarios (I will only report on the main findings, I will not regurgitate the whole paper);
1/ No human can be ethically allowed to be tested using drugs so we use animals. Studies have found that in monkeys, hormone administration resulted in increases in dominant behaviour in dominant animals and increased submission in subordinate animals. Rats showed less fear or anticipatory anxiety when compared to control animals. Steroids increased aggressiveness in female mice, but not in males.
2/ Human Mood Behaviours when using Anabolic Steroids (non sporting population); Looking at sexual behaviour, men appeared to be more aggressive (both verbal and physical) than women using a self report measuring scale. Men had higher scores on lack of frustration and impulsivity than women. Looking at sexual differences male heterosexuals and homosexuals had no difference on aggression levels. However, female sexual differences showed that heterosexual women were more aggressive than homosexual women. An interesting study done by Booth and Dabbs (1993) showed that men producing a large amounts of testosterone were less likely to marry; if they married were more likely to have a divorce due to extramarital sex and troubled marriage relations.
Socio-economic status is another variable. The high class status seems to correlate with lower testosterone production. Lower class individuals with less money produce more testosterone. in offenders who had done time behind bars there was a noticeable between elevated cortisol levels and reduced violent tendencies.
2.1/ Responses to Winning and Losing; Winners had more testosterone than losers, cortisol levels did not differ between winners and losers. Mood was depressed in losers. If the competition involved high stakes then both teams' testosterone increased pre match and increased only for the winning team post match.
2.2/ Estrogen related Aggression; Estorgen has a significant role in the change in aggression scores during puberty and that testosterone may exert its effect via conversion to estrogen.
2.3/ Male Contraceptive Studies and Mood; Those that used anabolics on a regular basis may of suffered from libido (reduced sex drive). From a study conducted with the World Health Organization, participant's withdrew if they had suffered from increased fatigue, aggressiveness and libido change (10 came under this for their discontinuation of the study)
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| Steroids may make you stronger but what is happening under all that muscle and strength |
2.4/ Effects of Anabolic Steroids on Athletes' Mood and Behaviour; I wont go into detail on this section as it is very "dark" basically there are 8 cases of murder/suicide/homicide/manslaughter all linked in with steroid abuse by athletes/gym users. If you want to read the individual cases see the reference at end of article.
3/ Cross Sectional studies; Out of 138 bodybuilders in a local gym 38% said they had used anabolics , out of these 38, 51% had a change in mood, 34% had an increased libido (testosterone boosters). 22 former elite shot putters,13 of them reported increase in irritability and aggressiveness, distinct feelings of well being reported by 10 and quicker recovery from workouts reported by 5 of them. Out of all the shot putters only 2 believed that elevated levels of aggressiveness and irritability stemmed form their past use of steroid abuse. 20 anabolic using competitive weightlifters were examined and they found that both the steroid group and control where very similar (flamboyant features, no bipolar symptoms). However thee was a significant alcoholic abuse in both groups.
Three are many more studies like these in the report, again see reference end of article. It should be noted that cross sectional studies are also limited in that the only information they provide is an indication of current status, with information regarding previous conditions generally missing
4/ Longitudinal Studies; This part a lot of studies go against one and another. They summarised, while several published reports reveal a pattern of association between use of anabolic steroids by athletes. Increased levels of irritability, aggression, personality disturbance and psychiatric diagnoses, other reports do not. Several reports also document significant alternations in users, moods and at time, violent behaviour. One study indicates a relationship between total weekly steroid dose and the prevalence of mood disorders; several other studies do not.
5/ Effects of Anabolic Steroid's on Body Image; Subjects state that they have suffered from anorexia nervosa or reverse anorexia (bigorexia). All reports of reverse anorexia were by bodybuilders who used steroids and saw themselves as weak and small when in fact they where large and muscular. Those who thought they were small suffered from a form of body dysmorphia known as muscle dysmorphia in sporting circles. It was also found that steroid users scored higher on dimensions of pathological narcissism and significantly lower on clinical ratings of empathy
6/ Effects of Anabolic Steroids on Psychological Dependence and Withdrawal; Looking at a group of weightlifters all of whom use anabolic steroids they reported the following. 94% reported some form of dependence on steroids, 57% reported 3 or more symptoms of dependence.
7/ Methodological Issues; Case studies are limited in their representativeness. They do not necessarily allow valid generalizations to the population from which they came, and they are vulnerable to subjective biases. Causes may be selected because of their dramatic, rather than typical, attributes, or because they neatly fit an observer's preconceptions. Additionally methodological problems that have arisen recently include;
- the impurity and content of anabolic steroids, especially those available at the black market level
- not differentiating between anabolic steroids and corticosteroids in prevalence surveys with adolescents participants. And
- the failure to consider weight training as a confounding variable when examining the psychological and behavioural effects of anabolic steroids.
8/ Weight Training as a Confounding Variable; The fact that many steroid users also dedicated weight trainers has been overlooked in most studies examining the relationship between steroid use and behavioural changes. A triad may exist between steroid us, weight training as part of a "lifestyle", or commitment and behavioural change (including dependence). Weight training and related practices mist be considered potential confounding factors in future studies designed to examine the psychological and behavioural effects of steroids.
9/ Distinguishing Between Anabolic Steroids and Corticosteroids; With steroids being labelled as a "negative" many athletes worry about taking their prescribed medication to treat illness or injury. This has created Steroidphobia; The fear that taking anything with the word "steroid" in it will get them banned from sport. Steroids are heavily used in medicine and many live shave been saved through their use. Bigger, Stronger Faster documentary highlights this point very well. I recommend watching it all if you get the chance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O77cVVOFqbE
Summary of Above Information
After participating in many sports at a range of levels from regional to international, working with beginner to elite athletes, sitting in lectures and reading books on enhancing sports performance. I have come to the conclusion that there is an increasing number of people whom are just cheats and will do what it takes for a piece of metal at the end of the day. There are no drug free sports only drug tested as the idea of fair play has left sports due to human nature striving to be number one no matter the cost.
This, to some of you may be a culture shock but I honestly believe that the Olympics is becoming more and more of a joke as it is not staying true to its Olympic Charter and ideas of fair play.
I use this simple analogy to describe why the Olympics in recent years is breeding more cheaters than winners.
You have an athlete training to be the best in the world at one event, e.g. the men's 100m. This event attracts a large viewing audience (more viewers means more money), viewers will see sponsors' names attached to said athlete (sponsor's net worth grows due to sales of being publicised). The TV companies and sponsors will work together to generate more revenue to only show their athlete on their links. If athlete keeps winning his/her profile grows along with that of the sponsors and TV companies. If athlete is accused of cheating these companies will come in and protect said athlete.
Few Examples of this
Tyson Gay
Has had his suspension lowered from being caught doping. There are numerous reasons why this was lowered, the most obvious one is he is a very marketable athlete and the only one whom can challenge Bolt. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-3053233/Usain-Bolt-says-Tyson-Gay-kicked-sport-caught-doping-ahead-sprinter-s-return.html
Lance Armstrong
I'm sure everyone has watched all the Lance Armstrong documentaries and is now clued up on what he did. He is the most tested athlete in history and has passed every test he has been subjected to. His cycling federation protected him along with significant others he even had an FBI case dropped because he held that much power. Why did he have this much power it is because he is a very marketable athlete, he raised millions for charity and brought other cheaters into the media light to be cut down (could say scapegoat tactics). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq0QWQ5A7WQ
And the reason why they are protected it is because the athletes are not athletes they are valuable commercial products. Sport isn't a sport anymore it is a business and as a business it will do some shady deals to make more money. Businesses don't mid if they hurt one or two peoples feelings to make more money. People want to see world records get smashed and to do this athletes usually have to turn to PEDs. They will get protected by their sponsors if they are worth the revenue they bring in.
As an athlete if they had a shot to taking the gold medal and they believed everyone as on PED's the would see themselves at a disadvantage to the rest of the competitors. This becomes a circle, those at the top take the drugs and those at the bottom only see reaching the top possible with the use of steroids.
Link all what I have said, back to the mental health of taking these drugs. What happened if the same athlete gets dropped by their TV company and or sponsors? They don't generate the same amount of revenue, they aren't protected they become angry, depressed, annoyed. Marion Jones career is an example of this. She was the first women at an Olympic games to win 5 gold medals to then be caught and lose everything. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/7184067.stm
Their mental health takes a nose dive as their career is affected so badly, their relationships with others are changed for the worst due to their behaviour as shown from the studies. Their health declines they develop mental health disorders such as depression that can even lead to suicide.
The most famous case of this was Chris Benoit whom committed suicide and killed his entire family. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Video/playerIndex?id=3320981 Can we blame steroids exclusively? No. However, it was one of the many contributing factors.
Steroids will always be a matter of debate, as Date Tate said "they are already part of the sport" in the video linked earlier in this article. Are steroids the main cause for depression, aggressive tendencies, abuse, etc. Nope but they will facilitate those factors if contributed to any individual with these. People will use steroids for the fame and glory knowing full well the adverse side effects in the long term. As humans' we will do what it takes to win and if that means degrading our mental and physical health for wealth and fame then the majority of people will do that.
Thanks for reading
Reference
M.S. Bahrke. (2000). Psychological Effects of Endogenous Testosterone and Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids. In Anabolic Steroids in Sport and Exercise, Edited by C.E. Yesalis (Champaign, IL; Human Kinetics), 247-278).
Andrew Richardson, Founder of Strength is Never a Weakness Blog
I have a BSc (Hons) in Applied Sport Science and a Merit in my MSc in Sport and Exercise Science and I passed my PGCE at Teesside University.
Now I will be commencing my PhD into "Investigating Sedentary Lifestyles of the Tees Valley" this October 2019.
I am employed by Teesside University Sport and WellBeing Department as a PT/Fitness Instructor.
My long term goal is to become a Sport Science and/or Sport and Exercise Lecturer. I am also keen to contribute to academia via continued research in a quest for new knowledge.
My most recent publications:
My passion is for Sport Science which has led to additional interests incorporating Sports Psychology, Body Dysmorphia, AAS, Doping and Strength and Conditioning.
Within these respective fields, I have a passion for Strength Training, Fitness Testing, Periodisation and Tapering.
I write for numerous websites across the UK and Ireland including my own blog Strength is Never a Weakness.
I had my own business for providing training plans for teams and athletes.
I was one of the Irish National Coaches for Powerlifting, and have attained two 3rd places at the first World University Championships,
in Belarus in July 2016.Feel free to email me or call me as I am always looking for the next challenge.
Contact details below;
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Email: a.s.richardson@tees.ac.uk
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