Steroids
Steroids
Understanding the dangers of one of
America’s fastest growing drugs among
adolescents
Mauricio Buchner and Jason Chellew
What are steroids?
1 Androgenic Anabolic Steroids
1 Synthetically produced
testosterone
1 Medical names
1 Durabolin, Equipoise, Winstrol
and Clenbuterol
1 Street Names
1 Gym candy, roids, pumpers,
juice, stackers, and Arnold’s
Where do you get steroids?
1 What are steroids?
1 Why do people abuse
them?
1 Where do you get them?
1 How are steroids taken?
1 Physical and psychological
dangers of abusing steroids
1 Decreasing adolescent use of
steroids
Why do people abuse steroids?
1 To improve physical
performance
1 To gain a competitive
edge
1 To become stronger
1 To improve self-esteem
1 To lose weight, burn fat
and increase muscle
1 Vanity
How are steroids taken?
1 Most common ways:
1 Smuggling in from
other countries
1 Stolen from legitimate
sources
1 Vets, inappropriate
prescriptions
1 Produced in labs
1 Injection, pills, pellet under the skin
and patches
1 “Stacking” – Taking more than
one type of steroid at a time
1 “Cycling” – traditionally 6 to 12
weeks
1 Dosage depends on the needs of
the sport
1 Generally, athletes will build to a
peak and intake and then taper
back down
1
Dangers of abusing steroids
Dangers of abusing steroids
1 Physical:
1 Cardiovascular problems
1 Liver problems
1 Risk of contracting HIV
1 Stunted growth
1 Severe acne
1 Sex-specific:
1 Males: atrophy of testicles,
breast enlargement, sterility
1 Psychological:
1 Increased
aggressiveness
1 More likely to use
other illegal drugs
1 Sleep disturbances
1 Withdrawal symptoms
1 Depression
1 Suicide
1 Females: masculinizing
effects, menstrual irregularities,
infertility
Decreasing adolescent use of
steroids
1 Most interventions have
been counterproductive.
Why?
1 Scare tactics
1 Successful programs:
1 ATLAS, ATHENA and STUDS
1 The social-psychological
approach
1 Role of the school
psychologist
Statistics
1 Highest adolescent user group consists of
high school football players
1 Abuse starts as early as the 7th grade
1 Teenage girls are the fastest-growing user
group
1 Up to 12% of high school athletes use
steroids at some point
1 Since 1991, steroid abuse has doubled
among teenagers
Today in America…
1 million kids are using
steroids
2
References???
3