Anabolic Steroids
A.K.A. Muscle Juice!
What are Anabolic Steroids?
- A drug used to help increase muscle tissue
- Steroids mostly come in tablets or liquids
- This can be prescribed legally to treat conditions like steroid hormone deficiency, (such as delayed puberty)
- Athletes abuse this drug
How is Anabolic Steroids taken in the body?
- This drug is taken in by injection or orally into the muscles
- Some are applied on the skin by cream or gel
Some Slang/Street Words for Steroids
- "Roids"
- "Juice"
- "Gym Candy"
- "Pumper"
- "Stacker"
- "Balls"
- "Bulls"
- "Wight Trainers"
- "Arnies"
- "A's/Anabolics"
How does the drug affect the body?
Short Term Effects
Minor
- Acne
- Oily skin
- Excess hair growth
- Deepening of the voice
- Increase risk of cancer
- increase risk of heart disease
- high blood pressure
- reduction of cholesterol
Long Term Effects
Men
- shrinkage of testicles
- baldness
Women
- growth of facial hair
- enlargement of clitoris
Signs of Abuse and Symptoms
Signs of Abuse
- Continuous use can decrease the body's responsiveness to the drug
- Body stops producing testosterone
- Abusers combine different types of steroids
- They also take doses 10 to 100 times greater than doses prescribed to treat medical conditions
Symptoms
- wild mood swings that lead to violence
- feeling of depression (after effect)
- jealously
- aggressive
- false judgement of feeling invisibility
- strong sense of feeling good about themselves
Addiction/Dependence
Addiction
- People abuse this drug despite the physical problems and negative effects on social relationships
- Abusers spend a lot of money and time to get steroids
- People who abuse steroids can experience withdrawal symptoms when they stopped taking them
Psychological Dependence
- The people who abuse steroids usually want to improve their appearance and performance
- These abusers believe that more doses of anabolic steroids will have greater results