Regardless of side effects, anabolic steroids are a popular way to become "Macho Man"
Men have been under greater scrutiny to attain the perfect body. This had lead to an increase in anabolic steroid use in order to buff up. Although the ideal is still thin, muscular bodies are most often the goal, no matter what the side effects of the steroids.
Unfortunately, going hand in hand with steroid use is the obsession to count calories and focus on appearance and dieting, things that were formerly associated with women. But men are feeling the pressure from media in the same way as women are these days.
The standard consensus is that body image issues start in high school and college, when men begin being seen as sexual. The atmosphere of school is competitive and guys feel insecure next to their friends.
Fall of Confidence
Body image issues also start in elementary school, though. When a boy with a thin frame is teased because he’s so skinny, this can lead to an obsession later in life with bulking up. Whatever age the preoccupation begins, it can be just as dangerous as an eating disorder.
Without having a diagnosable disorder, men consumed with buffing up often also count carbs and calories, exercise excessively, take supplements without a Doctor’s recommendation, spend hours at the gym 7 days a week, overload on protein and take anabolic steroids.
Says Martin Barnes of DrugScope, a charity in Luton, UK, "The rise in the number of young men misusing steroids is extremely worrying and seems to be in response to a growing obsession with the ideal body image.
"There are serious risks associated with steroid misuse, but people may ignore the dangers or not seek help because they do not consider themselves drug users" (Luton Today, 2006).
Steroid Use Research
DrugScope carried out a study and found that illegal anabolic steroids were easily available in 11 of the cities they contacted: Blackpool, London, Birmingham, Middlesbrough, Nottingham, Torquay, Cardiff, Manchester, Portsmouth, Luton and Newcastle.
They also found that the rise in drug users ages 16-25 has increased dramatically and is not isolated for bodybuilders and athletes. Office workers, club goers and the regular guy next door are injecting steroids in order to get the body they want.
Side Effects
Side affects, which are usually ignored or played down, include: reduced sperm count, kidney and liver problems, high blood pressure, increased aggression and the danger of HIV and hepatitis B and C.
Eating disorder organizations have always hoped that the media obsession with stick thin models would die down. Instead, both men and women are being bombarded with the same amount of pressure. Have the dangers of eating disorders taught us nothing?
 |
 |
 |
