By Bernardo Zorzetto Rech There are few things more distressing than constantly seeing flaws in your own physique. For most people, these perceived flaws are nothing more than a nuisance, it would be sufficient enough to join a gym and find satisfaction in their own selves. For others, the search for a “dream physique” might be never-ending, with the perception of their own flaws growing day by day. This is when the search becomes problematic. Even more so when a person might be unsatisfied with the results they have achieved and look for performance-enhancing drugs, steroids, to drastically alter their appearance. The world of steroids is a harsh one. The user may, indeed, see drastic changes in the way they look. Muscle growth and a decrease in body fat percentage are only some of the effects that give the user a sense of addiction. The negatives, however, do not take long to appear. Extreme acne, heart palpitations, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, mood change, insomnia, night sweats, and an increased risk of heart failure, stroke, and aneurysm are only some of the potential health side effects of the continued use of steroids. If taken in a continued manner, steroids have the capacity of growing the muscles so much to the point where the body is unable to sustain itself. A knee or shoulder may collapse, making walking and other daily movements a tremendous difficulty. Why then, does an increasingly larger number of people decide to take the risk to make tremendous, unnatural progress at the gym? The answer may actually be one of a mental health concern. Through the use of steroids, users can achieve incredible physiques. The best and most famous bodybuilders had to resort to steroids in one way or another to achieve their characteristic physiques. However, it is not solely bodybuilders who are taking the step into unnaturality in an attempt to achieve a certain look. Regular gym goers, those who may not even have an aspiration to compete professionally, take the unnatural route because it is a quicker and almost fail-safe way of getting a more muscular physique. Some gym goers may “max-out” their physique naturally before they progress to steroids, while some may simply turn directly to the “not-natty” route before even achieving solid progress. Why then, if the user achieves great results, is there a great danger to the use of steroids? In a study performed in the United Kingdom, and later publicized by The Guardian, it was found that up to a million people are shooting up steroids to alter their physiques. Users may range in age from young teenagers all the way to the elderly, who wish they could look like their younger selves. While some prefer to take steroids orally, almost half of the study group injects it, creating another health concern. While some are able to buy steroids over the counter, others prefer to buy them directly from an underground dealer, who “cooks” the substances. With no regulation set in place for such substances, there is little known about what exactly is inside these cooked-up steroids. Additionally, many users “shoot up” the drugs in unregulated environments, such as gym locker rooms, making the entire process unsanitary and raising the risk of getting an infection. Worriyingly, around 55% of users claimed that the reason for their use of steroids comes from a concern with their body image. This statistic in itself makes the entire steroid epidemic a mental condition. Boiling down to body dysmorphia, with users having a mixed perception of the way they appear to the outside world, they may only find solace in the use of steroids as a coping mechanism. Thus, in order to tackle the steroid epidemic, it is first necessary to approach it from a mental health epidemic standpoint.
Body dysmorphia is a problem that most people have gone through at least once. It is more common in adolescence, when teenagers are still forming the perception of the way they look, and are thus more susceptible to being unsatisfied with their own appearance. Nevertheless, these problems can permeate through adulthood, and even by going to the gym, many will never find any solace in their physiques. Body dysmorphia is a rapidly changing condition. Much like other psychiatric illnesses, such as anorexia nervosa, it can completely occupy the individual’s headspace. It, then, morphs into another illness entirely: muscle dysmorphia, commonly known as bigorexia. Individuals with this condition will, for the most part, believe that they are lacking a muscular frame, and should pack on more muscles and more weight. Even professional bodybuilders can suffer from this condition, with many finding that they need to get bigger so that they can be comparable to their peers. Individuals with such condition may then suffer additional psychiatric cases, such as eating disorders, as they feel like they either have to restrict their eating so they will look leaner, or eat even more so they become bigger. The suffering can become so tough that even casual gym-goers will feel like they need to resort to steroids as a way out. However, even though it may seem like a solution, individuals who abuse steroids can feel their body dysmorphia getting even worse. With the steroid epidemic raging in the gym community worldwide, the cause may be one of a psychiatric illness after all. Only through healing mental wounds can we move past the abuse of performance-enhancing substances towards a healthier, and more fulfilling, society. a
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The Taida Student Journal has been active since 1995 with an ever-changing roster of student journalists at NTU. Click the above link to read about the authors Archives
May 2024
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