Steroids and Agression, my view!
Steriods and Agression
Our media and government has hindered
legit medical professionals to prescribe the drugs when needed for existing legitimate medical problems, such as hypogonadism, depression and a host of other conditions. In truth synthetic steroids are twins or offspring, so to speak of our own endogenous testosterone.
Existing research on steroids and aggression are very sketchy and more often than not provide conclusions that conflict with conclusions of similar research done by others researchers. The media has recently vilified steroids as making” cheaters, criminals and crazed lunatics” out of anyone who uses or has ever used the drugs. This serves little justice to anyone who has any interest in learning the truth about the drugs and makes it more of a problem
Does testosterone in itself at various levels actually cause aggression? Or rather, does expectations by testosterone users in result in a perceived in aggression. A number of studies point to the later. In several double-blind placebo controlled studies it was leaked to the placebo group, that in fact they were the ones actually being administered testosterone. In each case members of both groups were told to record all incidents of aggression in a note book. In the referenced studies as well as other similar studies. The placebo group who believed that they were the ones getting the drugs reported more incidents of what they believed to be steroid induced aggression. This follows along the same line of misconceptions influenced by the media. Contrary to popular belief the vast majority of illegal steroids users are not steroid raging assholes, thugs or professional athletes, but rather hard working middle class American males, who wish to improve their appearance and feel better in a safe and sensible fashion. These same individuals could legally obtain surgical implants in chest, calves, biceps, or get medical prescriptions of hormones provided they wanted to change their sex altogether. But God forbid they use steroids to build muscle or relieve depression.
Are steroids used by athletes a method of “cheating” or necessary tool used to lessen injury, speed healing and recovery from injury?
Please take into regard the fact that the media, team owners, and especially the fans expect athletes to perform at near super human levels, and expect, records to continue to be broken year after year.
Steroids are not magical, nor will they turn a dud into a superstar over night. Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (AAS) are just one small piece in the puzzle that helps many athletes attain a fleeting moment of greatness. Without, proper nutrition, intense training and genetic potential, steroids accomplish very little. In my opinion the only way to level the playing field is eliminate [FONT=tahoma, verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]drug test[/FONT]ing in professional and world class athletes. Analogs of steroids will always be available to the top competitors, steroids analogs are first cousins to known compounds and work the same, providing the same effect/benefit, but will not show up on any drug test. All that it takes to obtain non-testable steroids is a little extra cash. Balco owned by Victor Conte is a prime example not only did Balco supply top athletes with “THG” a super steroid that could not be detected in [FONT=tahoma, verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]drug tests[/FONT], they also provided athletes with a product named “Clear” which would clear the user’s system of any trace of detectable drugs prior a drug test. Unless a top athlete is just plain dumb, no one male or female ever need fail a doping test. Science is always several steps ahead in developing new drugs and several steps behind in developing new tests to detect banned substances.
The media normally portrays steroid users as huge, violent, often dim witted individuals and often tries to link every crime perpetuated by any level athlete as a product of steroid use and or “Roid Rage”. When was the last time you seen on CNN the results of a turf war fought over steroids? How many South American drug cartels are funded by selling steroids in U.S. cities? Of course we all know that the Taliban receives 99% of it’s funding by the cultivation of anabolic steroids. And of course the WMD’s that Saddam was accused of having were no doubt steroids. Recreational drugs are coming across our southern boarder by the truckloads every day, flooding our middle school and high school populations with drugs that truly cause violent, harmful behavior.
Yet, our government is more interested in weather or not Berry Bonds ever use steroids. The senate spends millions of tax payer dollars to hold hearing on the possible use of steroids by professional baseball players. My belief is that the money could better be spent educating our children against illegal use of all drugs including steroids and the elimination of criminals who traffic drugs to children, regardless if it’s on school property or not.
In preparation for this article. I read many, research papers, articles and perhaps an additional twenty-five to forty abstracts. Which became clear was that not a single researcher, weather it be human or animal research studied all the most commonly used steroids used by the majority of recreational through professional athlete. I see this as indication that the majority of researchers either do not know what real world athletes use, or are prevented by medical and ethical restraints against doing what would be truly accurate research.
All studies regardless animal or human limit their use of steroids to handful of steroids intended solely for use by humans. When in reality the most widely used steroids, other than testosterone were never intended for human use. Testosterone/Trenbolone is probably one of the most widely used steroid combos in North America. I base this assumption on anecdotal evidence provided by tens of thousands of members on various bodybuilding and powerlifting, chat boards located throughout the web.
Why is Trenbolone one of the most used steroid…because nothing else compares in effect, tren not only has the highest affinity of any androgen to the androgen receptor located in muscle cells it also has a very high affinity to corticosteroids receptors throughout the body thus prevents over training and allows fat burning like few other drugs.
In summery: does testosterone increases aggression to any significant extent…possible but not very likely. Also it’s unlikely that other steroids made for human injection and prescribed by Medical Doctors will result in much of an increase in aggression. Some of the medically prescribed oral AAS most notable Halotestin seem without doubt to somewhat increase aggression but not to any extent that would be considered a “Roid Rage”. There is also little doubt in my mind that certain steroids intended for only veterinary use, when use by human beings may cause some aggression in certain cases. It’s important to realize that steroids are all categorized as the same drug by the media but in reality there is a world of difference in the effects of certain individual steroids on how people using then react emotionally and psychologically to them.
References
Archer, J. (2006). Testosterone and human aggression: An evaluation
Of the challenge hypothesis. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 30, 319-345
Ariel, G.B., and Saville, W. (1972) Anabolic Steroids: The physiological effects of placebos. Medicine and Science in Sports, 4, 124-126
Bjorkqvist, Nygren ,Bjorklund, and Bjorkvist, (1994).
Testosterone intake and aggressiveness: Real effect or anticipation?
Aggressive behavior, 20, 17-26.
Booth, Granger, Mazur and Kivlighan,. (2006). Testosterone and social behavior. Social Forces, 85, 167-191.
Breuer, McGinnis, Lumia and Possidente (2004) Aggression in male rats receiving anabolic androgenic steroids: Effects of social and environmental provocation. Hormones and Behavior, 40, 409-418.
Cohen, Collings, Darkes, and Gwartney. (In Press) A league of their own: Demographics, Motovations and Patterns of Use of1,955 Male adult Non-Medical Anabolic Steroid Users in the United States. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.
Dixson (1980) Androgens and aggressive behavior in primates: A review. Aggressive Behavior, 6, 37-67.
Grogan, Shepard, Evans, Wright and Hunter,. (2006). Experiences of anabolic steroid use: In-depth interviews with men and women bodybuilder. Journal of Health Psychology, 11, 845-856.
Hartgens, and Kuipers, (2004) Effects of androgenic-anabolic steroids in athletes. Sports Medicine, 34(8), 513-554.
Kalasountas, Reed and Fitzpatrick. (2007). The effects of placebo induced changes in expectancies on maximal force production in college students. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology 19, 116-124.
Lefavi, Reeve, and Newland. (1990). Relationship between anabolic steroid use and selected psychological parameters in male bodybuilders. Journal of Sport Behavior, 13, 157-166.
Maganaris, Collins and Sharp. (2000). Expectancy effects and strength training: Do steroids make a difference? The Sport Psychologist, 14, 272-278.
Mc Ginnis. (2004). Anabolic androgenic steroids and aggression: Studies using animal models. Annuals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1036, 399-415.
Olich, and Ewing. (1999). Life on Steroids: Bodybuilders describe their perceptions of the anabolic-androgenic use period. The Sport Psychologist, 13, 299-312.
Rejeski, Brubaker, Kaplan and Koritnik. (1988). Anabolic steroids and aggressive behavior in cynomolgus monkeys. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 11, 95-105.
Riem and Hersey (1995). Using anabolic-androgenic steroids to enhance physique and performance: Effects on mood and behavior. Clinical Psychology Review, 15, 235-256.
Sharp and Collins (1998). Exploring the “inevitability” of the relationship between anabolic-androgenic use and aggression in human males. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 558-565.
Lindquist and Rajs. (2000). Cause and manner of death among user
Steriods and Agression
Our media and government has hindered
legit medical professionals to prescribe the drugs when needed for existing legitimate medical problems, such as hypogonadism, depression and a host of other conditions. In truth synthetic steroids are twins or offspring, so to speak of our own endogenous testosterone.
Existing research on steroids and aggression are very sketchy and more often than not provide conclusions that conflict with conclusions of similar research done by others researchers. The media has recently vilified steroids as making” cheaters, criminals and crazed lunatics” out of anyone who uses or has ever used the drugs. This serves little justice to anyone who has any interest in learning the truth about the drugs and makes it more of a problem
Does testosterone in itself at various levels actually cause aggression? Or rather, does expectations by testosterone users in result in a perceived in aggression. A number of studies point to the later. In several double-blind placebo controlled studies it was leaked to the placebo group, that in fact they were the ones actually being administered testosterone. In each case members of both groups were told to record all incidents of aggression in a note book. In the referenced studies as well as other similar studies. The placebo group who believed that they were the ones getting the drugs reported more incidents of what they believed to be steroid induced aggression. This follows along the same line of misconceptions influenced by the media. Contrary to popular belief the vast majority of illegal steroids users are not steroid raging assholes, thugs or professional athletes, but rather hard working middle class American males, who wish to improve their appearance and feel better in a safe and sensible fashion. These same individuals could legally obtain surgical implants in chest, calves, biceps, or get medical prescriptions of hormones provided they wanted to change their sex altogether. But God forbid they use steroids to build muscle or relieve depression.
Are steroids used by athletes a method of “cheating” or necessary tool used to lessen injury, speed healing and recovery from injury?
Please take into regard the fact that the media, team owners, and especially the fans expect athletes to perform at near super human levels, and expect, records to continue to be broken year after year.
Steroids are not magical, nor will they turn a dud into a superstar over night. Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (AAS) are just one small piece in the puzzle that helps many athletes attain a fleeting moment of greatness. Without, proper nutrition, intense training and genetic potential, steroids accomplish very little. In my opinion the only way to level the playing field is eliminate [FONT=tahoma, verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]drug test[/FONT]ing in professional and world class athletes. Analogs of steroids will always be available to the top competitors, steroids analogs are first cousins to known compounds and work the same, providing the same effect/benefit, but will not show up on any drug test. All that it takes to obtain non-testable steroids is a little extra cash. Balco owned by Victor Conte is a prime example not only did Balco supply top athletes with “THG” a super steroid that could not be detected in [FONT=tahoma, verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]drug tests[/FONT], they also provided athletes with a product named “Clear” which would clear the user’s system of any trace of detectable drugs prior a drug test. Unless a top athlete is just plain dumb, no one male or female ever need fail a doping test. Science is always several steps ahead in developing new drugs and several steps behind in developing new tests to detect banned substances.
The media normally portrays steroid users as huge, violent, often dim witted individuals and often tries to link every crime perpetuated by any level athlete as a product of steroid use and or “Roid Rage”. When was the last time you seen on CNN the results of a turf war fought over steroids? How many South American drug cartels are funded by selling steroids in U.S. cities? Of course we all know that the Taliban receives 99% of it’s funding by the cultivation of anabolic steroids. And of course the WMD’s that Saddam was accused of having were no doubt steroids. Recreational drugs are coming across our southern boarder by the truckloads every day, flooding our middle school and high school populations with drugs that truly cause violent, harmful behavior.
Yet, our government is more interested in weather or not Berry Bonds ever use steroids. The senate spends millions of tax payer dollars to hold hearing on the possible use of steroids by professional baseball players. My belief is that the money could better be spent educating our children against illegal use of all drugs including steroids and the elimination of criminals who traffic drugs to children, regardless if it’s on school property or not.
In preparation for this article. I read many, research papers, articles and perhaps an additional twenty-five to forty abstracts. Which became clear was that not a single researcher, weather it be human or animal research studied all the most commonly used steroids used by the majority of recreational through professional athlete. I see this as indication that the majority of researchers either do not know what real world athletes use, or are prevented by medical and ethical restraints against doing what would be truly accurate research.
All studies regardless animal or human limit their use of steroids to handful of steroids intended solely for use by humans. When in reality the most widely used steroids, other than testosterone were never intended for human use. Testosterone/Trenbolone is probably one of the most widely used steroid combos in North America. I base this assumption on anecdotal evidence provided by tens of thousands of members on various bodybuilding and powerlifting, chat boards located throughout the web.
Why is Trenbolone one of the most used steroid…because nothing else compares in effect, tren not only has the highest affinity of any androgen to the androgen receptor located in muscle cells it also has a very high affinity to corticosteroids receptors throughout the body thus prevents over training and allows fat burning like few other drugs.
In summery: does testosterone increases aggression to any significant extent…possible but not very likely. Also it’s unlikely that other steroids made for human injection and prescribed by Medical Doctors will result in much of an increase in aggression. Some of the medically prescribed oral AAS most notable Halotestin seem without doubt to somewhat increase aggression but not to any extent that would be considered a “Roid Rage”. There is also little doubt in my mind that certain steroids intended for only veterinary use, when use by human beings may cause some aggression in certain cases. It’s important to realize that steroids are all categorized as the same drug by the media but in reality there is a world of difference in the effects of certain individual steroids on how people using then react emotionally and psychologically to them.
References
Archer, J. (2006). Testosterone and human aggression: An evaluation
Of the challenge hypothesis. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 30, 319-345
Ariel, G.B., and Saville, W. (1972) Anabolic Steroids: The physiological effects of placebos. Medicine and Science in Sports, 4, 124-126
Bjorkqvist, Nygren ,Bjorklund, and Bjorkvist, (1994).
Testosterone intake and aggressiveness: Real effect or anticipation?
Aggressive behavior, 20, 17-26.
Booth, Granger, Mazur and Kivlighan,. (2006). Testosterone and social behavior. Social Forces, 85, 167-191.
Breuer, McGinnis, Lumia and Possidente (2004) Aggression in male rats receiving anabolic androgenic steroids: Effects of social and environmental provocation. Hormones and Behavior, 40, 409-418.
Cohen, Collings, Darkes, and Gwartney. (In Press) A league of their own: Demographics, Motovations and Patterns of Use of1,955 Male adult Non-Medical Anabolic Steroid Users in the United States. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.
Dixson (1980) Androgens and aggressive behavior in primates: A review. Aggressive Behavior, 6, 37-67.
Grogan, Shepard, Evans, Wright and Hunter,. (2006). Experiences of anabolic steroid use: In-depth interviews with men and women bodybuilder. Journal of Health Psychology, 11, 845-856.
Hartgens, and Kuipers, (2004) Effects of androgenic-anabolic steroids in athletes. Sports Medicine, 34(8), 513-554.
Kalasountas, Reed and Fitzpatrick. (2007). The effects of placebo induced changes in expectancies on maximal force production in college students. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology 19, 116-124.
Lefavi, Reeve, and Newland. (1990). Relationship between anabolic steroid use and selected psychological parameters in male bodybuilders. Journal of Sport Behavior, 13, 157-166.
Maganaris, Collins and Sharp. (2000). Expectancy effects and strength training: Do steroids make a difference? The Sport Psychologist, 14, 272-278.
Mc Ginnis. (2004). Anabolic androgenic steroids and aggression: Studies using animal models. Annuals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1036, 399-415.
Olich, and Ewing. (1999). Life on Steroids: Bodybuilders describe their perceptions of the anabolic-androgenic use period. The Sport Psychologist, 13, 299-312.
Rejeski, Brubaker, Kaplan and Koritnik. (1988). Anabolic steroids and aggressive behavior in cynomolgus monkeys. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 11, 95-105.
Riem and Hersey (1995). Using anabolic-androgenic steroids to enhance physique and performance: Effects on mood and behavior. Clinical Psychology Review, 15, 235-256.
Sharp and Collins (1998). Exploring the “inevitability” of the relationship between anabolic-androgenic use and aggression in human males. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 558-565.
Lindquist and Rajs. (2000). Cause and manner of death among user
