Anabolic Steroids and The Depression Connection

Testosterone is thought to be the root of male aggression. Above average levels of testosterone have been observed in incarcerated violent criminals and in athletes engaged in semi-violent sports such as: football, lacrosse, and ice hockey.

Mark Occhipinti, Ph.D. says
Many marriages and friendships have fallen on hard times as a result of the severe mood swings that many steroid users experience. The irritability experienced by males and females on anabolic /androgenic steroids are paralleled by a condition that millions of women each month endure, commonly referred to as “premenstrual tension syndrome”. Anabolic steroids, however, also have the opposite psychological effect in many abusers.

That is, the steroids act as potent mood elevators thereby mimicking the effects that are experienced when using anti-depressant drugs. When a steroid cycle is stopped, many male athletes experience a condition known as “estrogen rebound”. The “other hormone” that a male produces in smaller amounts than women is suppressed during the steroid cycle. Once the cycle has been stopped estrogen production which had been suppressed during the steroid cycle is now released as if “a dam had broke”.

The greater the dosage of anabolic/ androgenic steroids used for longer periods of time the more severe the rebound effect of estrogen can be.

Anabolic steroids have attracted much attention in the athletic and medical worlds in the past decade as their use by college, professional, and even Olympic athletes has become much more prevalent and circumspect. 

Current research indicates that androgenic steroids, both oral and injectable, cause changes in brain wave activity similar to those changes caused by stimulants and anti-depressants, as well as a variety of medical complications.

Of growing concern to physicians and psychologists is the mounting evidence that anabolic /androgenic steroids cause severe and sometimes permanent mental disorders.
The addictive nature of steroids often leads users to administer progressively higher doses and more exotic combinations of the drugs to maintain and increase the initial muscle building effects.

Learn more about research on further background and mounting evidence with final thoughts and some direction by clinical experts and psychologists.