¶ … anabolic-steroids-psychological-effects-1 / http://thinksteroids./articles/Demonization-anabolic-steroids-01/. Summary of an original research article

Darkes, Jack. (2000). The psychological effects of anabolic steroids (Part 1).

http://thinksteroids.com/articles/anabolic-steroids-psychological-effects-1/

Steroids have been one of the most demonized substances in modern pharmaceutical science. When discussed in relationship to baseball, the most common word which arose was 'cheating' in the media, reflecting the idea that taking steroids was a betrayal of fans' trust. Much has also been written about so-called 'roid rage,' or the psychological effects of the drugs. Jack Darkes' article on the psychological effects of steroids attempts to provide some rational medical context to the often heated rhetoric surrounding the drug. Psychological effects due to heighted testosterone are the most-cited reasons that steroid use by ordinary people is 'bad.' Darkes believes that negative psychological case studies are more often the exception rather than the rule, although these exceptions understandably gain more...

"There is, however, a lack of interest in stories of AAS users with no marked or clinically relevant personality change or psychopathology, apparently because AAS use, in and of itself, is viewed negatively by non-users" (Darkes 2000).
Darkes argues that it is the 'dose that makes the poison' rather than the fact that steroids are inherently bad in and of themselves. "AAS exhibit a dose-response relationship. In general, higher doses mean greater effects both for anabolic response (Forbes, 1985) and psychological effects (Pope & Katz, 1994), as well as for desirable and undesirable effects" on users (Darkes 2000). Also, physiologically, not all users will respond the same way. Different people (male or female) have different levels of endogenous testosterone. Someone with naturally very high testosterone might exhibit unusually aggressive behavior; someone with lower testosterone levels might not.

Preexisting pathologies and psychological influences will also impact the response to the drug: it might be that people who have aggression issues are more likely to take steroids in the first place, and the link…