Steroid Effects on Human Body

The second way that steroids most likely improve athletic performance is due to the infamous phenomenon know as the placebo effect. Although I cannot give you hard evidence or studies that prove this claim, I can and will explain my reasoning for this claim. As you may know, Major League Baseball is notorious for it's players getting busted for performance enhancing drugs, aka anabolic steroids. Player's statistics have shown a vast increase when influenced by anabolic steroids. For instance, the very year player's get busted for anabolic steroid usage, their numbers in terms of batting average and home runs drop significantly. As discussed earlier, steroids do increase muscle hypertrophy which in turn would logically give players the extra strength to hit the ball over the fence. However, it is more than just home runs that seem to increase dramatically with anabolic steroid usage. Players have shown drastic increases in batting average and even on base percentage while on anabolic steroids (Grossman 2-4). It is logical to buy into the idea that the increased strength from anabolic steroids would results in more home runs due to the mass behind the swing. However, the positive correlation between steroids and batting averages, would raise more question. This is because the principal behind hits in baseball is to connect the barrel of the bat to the ball. Steroids have no effects that would explain an increase in hand-eye coordination. This would lead one to believe that players are getting big confidence boosts while on anabolic steroids.

transition: Now that we understand all of the physical effects of anabolic steroids, we must look into the mental effects of anabolic steroids. After noting all the physical effects that anabolic steroids have on the human body, one must not forget the many mental effects that anabolic steroids have on the human body. Studies have indicated that when used in high amounts, anabolic steroids cause an increase in irritability, aggression, and depression. A recent study suggested that the hormonal effects of steroid usage resulted in aggressive behavior. Likewise, steroid use has been proven to be an addictive trait. Steroids users spend a lot of time and money to obtain the often illegal drugs, which is a good indication that they are addicted. When users stop taking steroids, they often see withdrawal symptoms, such as mood swings, restlessness, insomnia, and a lack of appetite, along with a desire to do more steroids. Of all the withdrawal symptoms, the most dangerous is depression. Depression can become overwhelming and lead to suicide.