Anabolic Steroid Abuse (cont.)
Are anabolic steroids addictive?
An undetermined percentage of steroid abusers may become addicted to the
drugs, as evidenced by their continued abuse despite physical problems and
negative effects on social relations. Also, steroid abusers typically spend
large amounts of time and money obtaining the drugs, which is another indication
that they may be addicted. Individuals who abuse steroids can experience
withdrawal symptoms when they stop taking steroids, such as mood swings,
fatigue, restlessness, loss of appetite, insomnia, reduced sex drive, and
steroid cravings. The most dangerous of the withdrawal symptoms is depression,
because it sometimes leads to suicide attempts. If left untreated, some
depressive symptoms associated with anabolic steroid withdrawal have been known
to persist for a year or more after the abuser stops taking the drugs.
What can be done to prevent steroid abuse?
Most prevention efforts in the United States today focus on athletes involved
with the Olympics and professional sports; few school districts test for abuse
of illicit drugs. It has been estimated that close to 9 percent of secondary
schools conduct some sort of drug testing program, presumably focused on
athletes, and that less than 4 percent of the Nation's high schools test their
athletes for steroids. Studies are currently under way to determine whether such
testing reduces drug abuse.
Research on steroid educational programs has shown that simply teaching
students about steroids' adverse effects does not convince adolescents that they
can be adversely affected. Nor does such instruction discourage young people
from taking steroids in the future. Presenting both the risks and benefits of
anabolic steroid use is more effective in convincing adolescents about steroids'
negative effects, apparently because the students find a balanced approach more
credible, according to the researchers.
NIDA-funded prevention research helps reduce steroid abuse.
Amore sophisticated approach has shown promise for preventing steroid abuse
among players on high school sports teams. The Adolescents Training and Learning
to Avoid Steroids (ATLAS) program is showing high school football players that
they do not need steroids to build powerful muscles and improve athletic
performance. By educating student athletes about the harmful effects of anabolic
steroids and providing nutrition and weight-training alternatives to steroid
use, the ATLAS program has increased football players' healthy behaviors and
reduced their intentions to abuse steroids. In the program, coaches and team
leaders teach the harmful effects of anabolic steroids and other illicit drugs
on immediate sports performance, and discuss how to refuse offers of drugs.
Studies show that 1 year after completion of the program, compared with a
control group, ATLAS-trained students in 15 high schools had:
- Half the incidence of new abuse of anabolic steroids and less intention to
abuse them in the future;
- Less abuse of alcohol, marijuana, amphetamines, and narcotics;
- Less abuse of "athletic enhancing" supplements;
- Less likelihood of engaging
in hazardous substance abuse behaviors such as drinking and driving;
- Increased protection against steroid and other substance abuse. Namely, less
interest in trying steroids, less desire to abuse them, better knowledge of
alternatives to steroid abuse, improved body image, and increased knowledge of
diet supplements.
The Athletes Targeting Healthy Exercise and Nutrition Alternatives (ATHENA)
program was patterned after the ATLAS program, but designed for adolescent girls
on sports teams. Early testing of girls enrolled in the ATHENA program showed
significant decreases in risky behaviors. While preseason risk behaviors were
similar among controls and ATHENA participants, the control athletes were three
times more likely to begin using diet pills and almost twice as likely to begin
abuse of other body-shaping substances, including amphetamines, anabolic
steroids, and muscle-building supplements during the sports season. The use of
diet pills increased among control subjects, while use fell to approximately
half of the preseason levels among ATHENA participants. In addition, ATHENA team
members were less likely to be sexually active, more likely to wear seatbelts,
less likely to ride in a car with a driver who had been drinking, and they
experienced fewer injuries during the sports season.
Both Congress and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration have endorsed ATLAS and ATHENA as model prevention programs.
These Oregon Health & Science University programs have been awarded the 2006
annual Sports Illustrated magazine's first-ever "Champion Award."
Next: What treatments are effective for anabolic steroid abuse? »
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