A cautionary tale: Thankfully, I've never gone down that road. And I wasn't even aware that users of anabolic steroids can become both physically and psychologically dependent upon the drugs. Scary shit. Apparently, when you stop taking steroids, your mood will be destroyed. Your testosterone levels will be extremely low and it will take a lot of time for them recover somewhat. If you have spent too how much time on drugs, your balls may never recover completely. The damage to the endocrine system has been done. Other side effects, some of them quite serious: https://www.drugs.com/article/anabolic-steroids.html Can a bodybuilder keep the gains made on steroids? No: http://nattyornot.com/can-keep-gains-steroid-cycle/ And then there are the bodybuilders who died prematurely: Cautionary tale, indeed.
I have a good friend who is a substance abuse counselor. He's told me some real horror stories about steriod use/abuse. Real messed up in the head and emotional wrecks when they come in. Support groups are very limited unlike AA and NA. They have a tough road.
Like Everything in life...the higher you rise, the harder the fall; It kind of reminds me of the mid/late 90's dot com market bubble and the 2008 housing collapse Moderation of everything is generally key -- but that kind of feels tough to swallow when everything is flourishing around you, (all of life's lessons and wisdoms kind of makes me think of the bible, or general spiritual teachings)
Why do people do this to themselves knowing what the side effects are. Is there any chance for long-term emotional recuperation, at least?
Good question. No doubt, a combination seeking appearance and performance enhancement with a side order of "the bad stuff won't happen to me; I'll know when to cut down or quit." A 13-year old piece on the growing use of anabolic steroids by kids: http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/steroid-use-hitting-closer-to-home#1 Anabolic steroids a serious global health problem amid boom in cosmetic use: http://theconversation.com/anabolic...ealth-problem-amid-boom-in-cosmetic-use-24238 More on the physiologic and psychiatric consequences resulting from the use of anabolic steroids: http://www.gponline.com/recognise-m...nic-steroids/substance-misuse/article/1329524
I don't understand how they can live with such muscles. It's one thing to prepare your body for competition, but it's another to live a normal life.
Not sure if you are only talking about Bodybuilding here, as performance enhancers can help athletes in all sports. Probably in BB they use the most dangerous doses and compounds, as they need to be both huge and very lean, which don´t go well together, and BBers are possibly the ones who would have the hardest time quitting as not only their performance but their appearance would fall dramatically if they cut off the juice, or even reduce it to a TRT dose. Important point is steroids shut off natural testosterone production, and longer use make it more likely it doesn´t restart properly. So it´s not surprising they turn into wrecks if they get off steroids cold turkey, most long term users require TRT to avoid this. As of "the bad stuff won't happen to me; I'll know when to cut down or quit." it´s probably part of the equation but there have been studies outside BB showing athletes are in majority fine to give up 10 year of their lifespan to be able to compete in the Olympics. I suspect many are fine with even a bigger number of years when it comes to Mr Olympia. Besides you have a lot of literature rather positive towards TRT or high TRT doses and GH use, it´s an easy step for many to extrapolate that if 150mg a week are good for you, than a couple of times more can´t hurt. Not a fan of BB myself btw (don´t mind the big muscles, but the BB competition itself), but read about many cycles the pros and aspiring pros take and it is very unhealthy. Yet cutting a few years of my lifespan to be stronger and more energetic into middle age and hopefully further doesn´t sound that scary, it´s not like the prospect of being extremely weak, senile and locked in for my own protection in my 90s sounds that exciting. You can look at Hollywood for widespread instances of older dudes on juice, probably on moderate doses and under doctors´supervision, and they don´t appear to die an untimely death.
Well, I don't see anything beautiful in such muscles, it's unnatural, they look like balls that are inflated too much. And I feel very sorry for the bodybuilders who died from steroid abuse. I am sure that everything needs a measure. For example, if you overeat sweets every day, you can get diabetes. It's the same with steroids, if you abuse them, they can give a lot of side effects that destroy your health. And so I read an article about steroids steroidcycle.org and realized that I have nothing against them if you want to build muscle and improve your physical performance. But it's important to take them as prescribed by a specialist to avoid addiction and side effects.
So then competing becomes something of a suicide mission, albeit a slow one. Is that a good direction for any sport to take? How long before people are willing to give up 20 years of their lives for a shot at the top, and so on? What kind of role models do such people make to young, impressionable minds? After all, haven't athletes always been role models to the young? It is a perversion of what any sport should represent. True. And when they used to smoke during the silver screen era, they didn't really appear to die untimely deaths either. In fact, weren't some doctors recommending some cigarette brands over others in ads during that time? Yeah, the BB drug fests are for shit, and it just keeps getting worse. (See? that's what I'm talking about. Trends. The roads taken.) But regarding cutting your later years to enjoy your younger ones, I think you got it wrong. Healthy living is about squaring the aging curve. I won't pretend to know much about the effects of PEDs on future health, but I doubt they are positive, which means that, unless you have a traumatic and untimely death due to use or overuse, you may begin sooner on a long and unpleasant descent. Squaring the curve is about staying healthy, fit and vibrant for as long as your lifestyle and genetics allow, and then coming to a fairly quick and natural end. It's about not mortgaging your future health. At least that's how I understand it.