The Hype About Roid Rage: Fact or Fiction?

When you think of pumped bodybuilders with bulging muscles and bulging neck veins, your next thought might be about roid rage. A few high-profile court cases featuring the "roid rage defense" were followed up by numerous television crime shows that feature young men who fell into using steroids to hold onto a competitive edge only to become monsters and - presto! A meme was born - steroids lead to uncontrollable rages, the stories suggest. If you take muscle steroids, you will invariably become a monster who puts everyone around himself in danger. As Bruce Banner - the other side of the Incredible Hulk who could be the unofficial poster boy for roid rage - would say, "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

But how much of the public belief about steroids and roid rage is true and how much of it is overhyped news and Hollywood sensationalism? The answer might surprise you.

Early Studies About Roid Rage

The stories about roid rage have been around for some time, and they seemed to be confirmed in 1996, when the British Journal of Medicine published a study from the Sports Science Institute of South Africa. According to those researchers, most of those in their study showed abnormal personality traits. The traits included paranoia, schizophrenia, antisocial tendencies and histrionic tendencies.

The results were based on studying 12 body builders who had used anabolic steroids for not more than 18 months in comparison to 12 body builders who claimed that they'd never used steroids. The 24 bodybuilders filled out personality questionnaires, as did family and friends. They found that 83% of the steroid users showed at least one personality disorder and half of them showed two types.

Another spate of research published the same year linked long-term steroid use to infertility, liver disease, jaundice, reduced libido, mood changes, prostate cancer and uncontrollable bursts of aggression. Picking up on the news, a popular UK soap opera featured a character who started taking steroids to build muscle for a body building competition and became aggressive.

Roid Rage Predisposition

More recent studies tell a different story. Roid rage is certainly a reality, but it seems that some people are predisposed to that particular side effect of using steroids. In fact, those who are most likely to exhibit roid rage are those who already have a tendency to acting out violently. There's also a possibility that roid rage may be more a side effect of suddenly ceasing steroid use than of taking steroids in the first place. The recommendation that comes out of those studies is that anyone taking steroids should be carefully observed, especially when they are cutting back or eliminating their use of the drugs.

The Bottom Line

While it's true that anyone using anabolic steroids will feel some increased aggression due to the increased testosterone, few will lose control and become violent. The suggestion that some people have a predisposition to violent behavior suggests another reason for roid rage - it's not the steroids, it's the muscles. Steroids let little guys bulk up, and some of those little guys are carrying around a major chip on their shoulders. When you add 100 pounds of muscle to a resentful, angry guy who has been holding in his anger for years, you get - well, Bruce Banner popping his shirt collar buttons.

The fact is that roid rage does happen, but not to all, or even most steroid users. For example, in one study of 50 men taking injected steroids, only six became moderately more irritable and two more much more irritable. One dropped out because he became, according to the researchers, "alarmingly hypomanic and aggressive."

In addition, there are many other side effects to using steroids, including developing enlarged breasts, testicle shrinkage, acne and high cholesterol. Overall, roid rage is a serious side effect that affects far fewer steroid users than any of those other side effects, which affect as many as 40% of those who use steroids to build muscle.

To learn more about subjects like roid rage please visit the web site at: http://roid-rage.org/

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About the Author

+Chris Robertson is a published author of Majon International. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2011 (Sun Aug 21 2011) Majon International. Majon International is one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing and internet advertising companies on the web. Visit their main business resource internet marketing web site at: http://www.majon.com