Pro and anti steroids are still debating on the extent of the side effects of using anabolic steroids. Those people who are not against the use of these drugs belie many reported side effects especially on the emotional aspect of a person. Though there are side effects, not all negative behavior seen on a steroid user can be attributed to his use of the drug. For them there could be other factors that cause this behavior. However, anti-steroids people are quick to blame steroids for violent behaviors seen on most bodybuilders and other users. The aggressive behavior of the users is often referred to as “roid rage.”

Anabolic steroids actually provide many benefits especially if it is used for medical treatment. However, its misuse has given the drug a very bad reputation. When you hear steroids, you will always think of its negative side effects. But when it is used properly and with the guidance of a health professional or a doctor, these side effects are minimized or avoided. Young cadet Matt Dear died of steroid complications due to self-medication. Taylor Hooton committed suicide because he wants to take a shortcut in becoming one of the greatest baseball players in his school. Jose Canseco admitted that he is on a testosterone therapy because of long term use of steroids but it made him one of the best baseball sluggers in the country. Chris Benoit murdered his family and killed himself because of steroids. All of these cases are attributed to abuse of the drug.

Any kind of medicine if taken at high dosages can be harmful to the body. People usually get the side effects because they want to take shortcuts. The culture plays a major role why there are a lot of people who are now engaged in bodybuilding. A bodybuilder said that taking steroids are common among bodybuilders. But the problem is they usually take beyond the recommended dosage. “You’re supposed to take just one a day, but the other guys all take five a day so I decided I should do that as well. It quickly became routine to take a pill before work,” he said.

According to Roy Jones, a substance abuse worker, the profile of steroids users have changed dramatically. “The average age used to be 34. But in the last decade it has gone down to 22 or 23. They are generally male and, unlike before, aren’t using the drugs to enhance performance but simply to enhance their image. The people I was seeing came from professions across the board - solicitors, bankers, people in average jobs. They wanted to lose body fat and to look toned,” he told the Dailymail.

A steroid expert interviewed by BBC said that the link between steroid misuse and actual behavior changes can be very hard to prove. According to Jim McVeigh of the Centre for Public Health of John Moores University at Liverpool said the evidence was “quite thin.” “To date it’s not been possible to prove a causal effect between anabolic steroids and aggression. Part of the problem is that a lot of the side-effects are self-reported so there is a high level of bias. Also, because of the nature of the drugs used it is rare to identify the exact drug used. It’s an illicit market - most of the drugs are fake or counterfeit and we do not know what’s in them,” he said.

He also said that any change on behavior of the user is difficult to blame on any history of steroid abuse. There are drugs which may be fine with other users but others may experience side effects. “But you can’t separate out the effects of the drug from other factors like lifestyle and personality traits when it comes to behaviour. Steroid use is just one of a number of factors to consider,” MVeigh added.

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