Substance Abuse Associated with Anabolic Steroid Abuse in People Visiting Gymnasium and Health Clubs

Abstract

National Survey on Drug Use and Addiction estimates that about one million individuals in the U.S. are current or past users of anabolic steroids, with over 300,000 individuals using anabolic steroids each year. Many of those using anabolic steroids are aware of the dangers of taking them, and they believe they can avoid the side effects by taking the drugs a certain way. There are risks associated with using steroids without a prescription or supervised by your doctor, even as part of a weight-training program. Physical withdrawal symptoms, similar to those seen in opiate withdrawal, have occurred upon cessation of extremely high doses of steroids. Moreover, the developing nervous system of children may be especially vulnerable to the psychological effects of steroids. Therefore, a study was carried out on 114 participants visiting various health clubs and gymnasium in Delhi NCR. The data collected was tabulated and analyzed. It was observed that there was a significant difference in between the younger and older age groups more participants belonging to age group >30 years were found to have moderate to severe dependence. The finding of the present study shows that significantly more participants who were AAS dependent also suffered from other psychiatric co-morbidities as compared to non-user/ non-dependent users.