Steroids and 'roid rage' - the origins?

[redwolf64]

I've often wondered about the origins of the popular perception of "steriods=roid rage/violence".

I think I may have found where it started:

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blog...than-life.html

The film "Bigger Than Life" from 1956 was based on an article in the New Yorker; it stars James Mason as a mild-mannered teacher who becomes psychotic after getting the new wonder drug, cortisone, a steroid.

[eiweiss]

.. in fact, it's the exact opposite. Cortisone will burn muscle away...

[redwolf64]

Yes, that's true. But what I'm wondering if, because it's a type of steroid, that the movie and publicity of the time started the association with any type of steroids and violent or psychotic behavior in the general public.

[mewletter]

That's one way it possible might have started. But again, where does the movie's 'source' came from? Anyway, that's how rumors spread and it's hard to disprove 'roid rage' since roid users often take other drugs causing nasty side effects.

[BIGJOEY]

roid rage is one of those urban myths that never goes away . the basis of this is because of the increase test and people see guys grunting in the gym etc. usually if a person is a type 1 agressive personality it doesnt matter if you give them over the counter stuff they will get aggressive. give them a few drinks and see what happens. funny how we dont accociate drinking with booze rage we just say they are drunk. most people i know who have used are not out of control by any means but just do their thing and thats all. its the insecure ones that feel the need to show off.

[BigLittleTim]

I believe in the "asshole theory" of 'roid rage: If you're already a bit of a jerk at 165 pounds, you're just gonna have more opportunities to be a jerk when you're a muscular 230 pounds. Also, most of the hormonal imbalance on cycle comes from your body's natural process of aromatizing Testosterone into Estrogen. You might be more aggressive, but you're also a LOT more cranky when on cycle.

Still, I stand by my original theory: Skinny/fat nice guys make good muscle-bound nice guys.

-BigLittleTim

[BIGJOEY]

curerent studies are starting to prove that supposed roid rage is actually diet based. granted there are always a few assholes at 150lbs or 250lbs but for most who have major mood swings its nutrition based usually a reaction to something they are allergic to. This is what causes the major mood swings in people when the drink or eat certain things.

[Brave_Wolfie]

Well it's mostly a myth, but the imbalance can make you a bit cranky from time to time. I personally tell people who inquire about them to not use them at all unless they want to bulk up to an extremely large size. Steroids can have different effects on people, good and bad.

People assume they're bad because they're note exactly "natural". And then there's that whole Chris Benoit thing... Yeah, don't expect people to assume steroids don't make you a bit loopy or angry for a looooong time

[Bull]

I believed it was entirely mythical until I tried finaplex. I'm as mild-mannered as they come, but that stuff made me crazy. Never again.

But I still say most roids do nothing to a person's mood.

There is also this: when you are a big, muscular guy, you are a target for dweebs trying to prove what men they are by fighting the big guy. So guys on juice do tend to be involved in more fights, purely out of self-defense. But try telling that to a judge when you are standing in a courtroom with a guy half your size. They ALWAYS blame the big guy, though you would think it would occur to them that big guys have no need to fight.

A huge friend of mine won't go near anyplace serving alcohol for that reason. He says: "The other guy may start it, but I'm the one who'll be doing community service."

[xythan_shadow]

Everyone who hasn't seen "Bigger Faster Stronger" should go to their netflix and get it. It's a really good movie that makes a lot of good points. I'm in the camp that believes that there should be a lot more studies on the short and long term effects of steroids. It's funny, most of the preconcieved notions are completely false, but until there are studies showing it, not much is going to change.

[FuzzyKB]

[COLOR=lime]"Roid Rage" is interesting. I have in the past donated a great deal of time to the care of men with advanced HIV. Many men dealing with the wasting syndrome associated with the disease process and with the drug side-effects of the protease and reverse transcriptease inhibitors commonly receive legal prescriptions for various steroidal componds that are far in excess of what is necessary to build muscle easily. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=#00ff00][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#00ff00]In all the years of dealing with this and in many cases of actually giving these guys their injections when they were recovering from something I never have witnessed anything resembling "roid rage" in anyone. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=#00ff00][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#00ff00]My personal opinion on the origin of this comes from bad behavior by professional athletes. We get some 280 pound line-backer that gets thoroughly intoxicated and roughs up some bar patron. If he says I was an asshole, he goes to jail, wipes his career, and his reputation for life.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#00ff00][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#00ff00]On the other hand if he says....."I am a poor victim of roid rage from the use of steroids, he gets a vacation in treatment, pays a fine, and all the really bad things fade into the background. This ploy was a nationwide gift from trial lawyers. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=#00ff00][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#00ff00]In an effort to present disinformation our own government has heavily participated in and encouraged these myths.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#00ff00][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#00ff00]The worst pawn I have ever seen in this was the late Lyle Alzado. Lyle Alzado attributed his cancer to steroid usage. The problem is that Lyle Alzado contracted and died of non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. This is not an Adenocarcinoma which is a hormone dependent tumor. His cancer and the type of cancer he had was not a variety that would have responded one way or the other to high testosterone levels. He was working as a PR man for the DEA. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=#00ff00][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#00ff00]People who are quick tempered and have anger management issues are the problem and the use of steroidal compounds is not the determining factor. Steroids can make one more agressive, but, agression is not necessarily anger or violence. Again all myths. . . .[/COLOR]

[cutlerfan]

Roid Rage exists but not always in the way you might think. Steroids can act in the same way in males as diet pills in females. If you misuse or abuse them AND you have a perfectionist personality type you can have problems. Most of the cases I've read about violent behavior and steroids were because the guy using them wasn't satisfied with how big he was and he judged himself on what he should be and not how much progress he had made. Going off steroids causes depression often because you fear getting smaller. If you are a perfectionist, this believed loss of size is traumatic and combined with hormone changes can make you very moody because you are not in control of your body. So Roid Rage is real but some cases are because the person involved is unaware of his control issues. That being said I also think that steroids do not mix well with some peoples' metabolism. Many people have drug sensitivities and reactions so why not with steroids? Keep in mind however that the long term damage of steroid abuse is well known. Enlarged hearts and other organ problems are common. I agree that nice (non-perfectionist) people tend to stay that way even with steroids. Peace.

[Big RR]

HEY THERE! I AGREE WITH YOU BULL, "most roids do nothing to a person's mood"....USUALLY. FINA IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE STRENGTH AND MUSCLE BUILDING ROIDS BUT YOU ARE RIGHT, SOME GUYS CAN GET A LITTLE CRANKY ON IT LOL! THE ONE THING I HATE ABOUT IT IS HAVING TO INJECT SO OFTEN BUT IT'S WORTH THE HUGE MUSCLE GAINS ALONG WITH THE TREMENDOUS STRENGTH GAINS FINA GIVES A GUY! I STACKED IT WITH ANADROL, DECCA, SUST AND HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE. THE MUSCLE AND STRENGTH GAINS WERE OUT OF THIS WORLD! IN THE FIRST 3 AND A HALF WEEKS ALONE I GAINED A HUGE 34LBS! MY BF BEGGED ME TO HELP HIM GET HUGE AND SO I BEGAN JUICING HIM UP AND HE STARTED LIFTING WITH ME. HE GOT HUGE FAST AND HIS STRENGTH WENT THROUGH THE ROOF ALONG WITH HIS SEX DRIVE! HE WAS ALREADY A HOT BOTTOM BUT NOW HE WANTED FUCKED 10 TIMES A DAY AND I WAS HAPPY TO DO IT! I USE TO MAKE HIM FLEX AND TELL ME TO LOOK AT HOW HUGE AND STRONG HE WAS GETTING AND HE FELT STRONG ENOUGH TO LIFT A TRAIN AND HE HAD ME TO THANK! IT'D GET ME OFF BIG TIME SEEING HIM GETTING HUGE! I WAS ALWAYS BIGGER AND STRONGER THAN HE IS AND GOT OFF ON MAKING HIS SUCK AND LICK ON MY HUGE GUNS AND BEG ME FOR MORE ROIDS! HE WAS ALREADY SOME WHAT AN EMOTIONAL GUY AND WITH HIM RAGING FULL OF LEVELS OF TESTOSTERONE OFF THE CHARTS, HE DID GET AGRESSIVE AND MEAN AND ONE TIME HE TRIED TO HIT ME AND TAKE MY STEROIDS FROM ME BECAUSE HE THOUGHT I WASN'T GOING TO SHARE AND HE ALSO REALLY GOT PISSED ALOT AT THE GYM OR OUT AT THE BAR BECAUSE I WAS STRONGER AND BIGGER THAN HE WAS AND I ALWAYS GOT ALL THE ATTENTION AND IF ANYONE LOOKED AT ME HE WANTED TO KICK THEIR ASS! I DISCOVERED THIS BOY CAN'T HANDLE ALL ROIDS AND WHEN HE BEGAN SHARING ALL HIS GROWING MUSCLES WITH EVERYBODY ELSE, I CUT HIM OFF AND KICKED HIS ASS OUT! HE LET HIMSELF GO AND IS NOW A BIG BLOB! I THINK HE WAS A RARE CASE WHERE ALL THE HORMONES FROM BEING ON ROIDS WAS TO MUCH FOR HIM TO CONTROL. I THINK AS A WHOLE, MUST ROID USERS AND HUGE GUYS LIKE US HANDLE IT VERY WELL! I KNOW THIS IS A VERY WIERD FETISH AND I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF ANYONE ELSE SHARS IT...OR FANTASIZES ABOUT IT TOO, I AM NOT ONLY INTO ROIDS, GETTING FREAKY HUGE, STRONGER THAN SUPERMAN, I AM REALLY INTO ROIDING UP A BF , A HOT OLDER GUY IN HIS 40'S, 50'S AND EVEN 60'S WHO ALL THEIR LIFE HAS WANTED TO GET FREAKY HUGE BUT DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO GO ABOUT IT...I JUICED UP MY EX AND HE GOT HUGE AND LAST YEAR I MET A 58 YEAR OLD GUY WHO ALL HIS LIFE WANTED TO BE A MUSCLE FREAK AND STRONGER THAN SUPERMAN BUT HIS EX WIFE WOULDN'T LET HIM NEAR A GYM. NOW THAT HE IS DIVORCED, I PUT HIM ON A HUGE CYCLE, A GREAT WORKOUT PLAN( HE ALREADY WAS MUSCULAR AND WORKED OUT.) AND WITH IN 4 MONTHS WE PACKED A HUGE 89LBS ON HIM! HONEST! HIS STRENGTH AND SEX DRIVE SHOT THROUGH THE ROOF AND HE IS BLOWN AWAY! HE CAN'T GET OVER HOW HUGE HIS MUSCLES ARE ALONG WITH STRENGTH GAINS HE NEVER DREAMED OF! AND AT 58 YEARS OLD, HE CAN'T BELIEVE THAT HIS COCK IS ROCK HARD 24/7, HE PUTS OUT ROID FILLED PRECUM LIKE A DAMN THAT HAS BURST AND HE JERKS OFF 11-12 TIMES A DAY JUST LIKE ME! HIS RECORD IS 18 LOADS IN ONE DAY! HE IS HUGE AND I CAN'T CUM ENOUGH OVER HOW HUGE HE IS AND HOW STRONG! MY FANTASY COME TRUE! HE LOVES HIS STEROIDS AND KEEPS GROWING BIGGER AND STRONGER BY THE DAY! I AM LOOKING FOR EITHER A NEW BF INTO SHARING MY GEAR WITH, LIFTING TOGETHER, GETTING FREAKY HUGE AND STRONGER THAN SUPERMAN!

[Big RR]

I know steroids effect some guys sex drive differently than others...me personally, no matter what stack i am on, i am insanely horny 24/7, rock as hell, jerking off 11-12 times a day and that's not enough! I still wake up raging hard with the sheets soaking wet and i do notice that i become a much more agressive top! It's one side effect of steroids that i love! I was always horny before steroids and getting off 5-6 times a day but wow! When i am on a cycle watch your ass lol! There is one other thing that i noticed while i am on a cycle...does anyone else while cycling produce huge and i mean huge amounts of precum! Roids make my cock so wet it's like a damn has burst! Sorry for rambling on guys....as you can see lol, steroids don't make me mean, the just make me out of my mind horny in addition to huge muscle and tremendous strength gains! Thanks for letting me ramble on guys! Any buddy in their 40's or 50's into a huge muscle beast like me, insanely horny, stronger than superman and wanting to share his juice and help you get freaky huge and stronger than superman with me?

[Amazed]

BigRR, your posts sound a bit crazy, but completely farkin' HOT! ;-) Can almost picture your roided-to-the-max muscle oozing test out of every pore.

[Phlex]

I once noticed that gay guys on 'roids are 'in heat' much of the time, whereas straight guys complain of diminished libido. It's not always true; but I wonder if there's something to this. Perhaps, for a crackpotty example, one's own pheromones are changed, so one is getting turned on by his own scent (whereas the straight guy is getting turned off). Oh well.

[Harlee]

Bull: I have somewhat the same issue with tren at certain levels. Buddy of mine has to stay clear of test because it affects his mind; he becomes real aggressive. But i'm aggressive and I enjoy it.

Big RR: I agree about the wild sex drive. I want sex five times a day and if I don't get any, I become like a caged animal.

[Harlee]

Steroid side effects do increase a guy's aggression, sexual drive and may cause roid rage, depending on dosage. On heavy cycle, I do get all the side effects but then I'm 6'2" and 282 at 8bf when I'm at my best.

[FuzzyKB]

[COLOR=silver]The one thing we have to all agree on is that some individuals are more impacted by others by nearly everything. Because of my age, and life experience I have been around a great deal of this. I am also a person who likes learning from those who are in the experience. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=#c0c0c0][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#c0c0c0]Some men do experience increased sex drive and for others it not only kills the drive, but interferes with the ability to even get an erection. All are different. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=#c0c0c0][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#c0c0c0]My problem is with the term "rage". This is a pretty heavy term and usually an actual stage of "rage" is most often the result of some form of abuse where a person is not able to fight back, and then turns on their agressor. Actual "rage" can reach a level where the person doing the physical act has no memory of anything happening and reaches a stage where the mind is in total chaos. The most dangerous person for this one is a person who suffers from "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder". [/COLOR]
[COLOR=#c0c0c0][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#c0c0c0]If we change the words to increased ascertiveness, a feeling of nervousness or feeling somewhat on edge, those are feelings I have seen in some bodybuilders. What amazes me however is that when I was dealing with and volunteering with HIV patients, I encountered individuals receiving dosages far higher and never saw the problem. What this tends to mean to me is that there is some other mitigating factor that magnifies the mental aspects of these drugs. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=#c0c0c0][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#c0c0c0]The most problems I have seen in bodybuilding ranks tend to be when insulin enters the picture. A person trying to alter a normal insulin production level for the anabolic effect is playing with fire simply because blood sugar levels will cause radical mood swings.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#c0c0c0][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#c0c0c0]A person with high blood sugar will tend to be cranky and short tempered. A person with low blood sugar will become fearful and almost paranoid when the level gets to the "just before shaking". This of course is getting down and the symptoms vary with the individual as to how soon the pass out from the sugar crash will take place. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=#c0c0c0][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#c0c0c0]I have seen radical mood swings from this and nearly psychotic behavior. My experience in this one came from dating one "brittle diabetic" and several insulin dependent relatives through marriage and experiences with these people.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#c0c0c0][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#c0c0c0]I am now used to it and when I start to see the mood swings I usually urge the person to test their sugar levels. If I respond to the behavior I get a fight, the moment I mention the word sugar the test kit comes out.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#c0c0c0][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#c0c0c0]The other thing I have noticed is that most of the "rage" without other causes tends to happen when the person on juice is a teen. This is an emotionally unstable time in their lives anway, and at these young ages emotional outbursts are common. These people have not learned to control their emotions and as a result poor emotional managemenet in general is escalated and referred to as "rage". [/COLOR]
[COLOR=#c0c0c0][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#c0c0c0]I have seen psychotic episodes and emotional instability surprisingly more from corticosteriods than anabolics. I have known several people that were placed on prednisone and had major mental issues from this drug. Standard cortisone used in treating inflamation can also in a small percentage cause problems. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=#c0c0c0][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#c0c0c0]Everything I personally have studied in regards to this has so far found not only juice but other factors involved. It is very easy to blame juice when in fact it may be a great deal more than that.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#c0c0c0][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#c0c0c0]In any event the claims of emotional instability I think are greatly exaggerated for the press shock value. If a bodybuilder commits a crime it is steroids because they use this as a defense for bad behavior. If a street gang member all of 5'6" and 115 pounds commits a crime they don't have that as a defense. I can guarantee you that if the same little street gang member were 5'6" and 220 pounds even if he were not juicing that would be a defense because it works. Again we have trial lawyers to thank for generating at least a portion of this. [/COLOR]

[schwermarko]

I know that I am bumping up an old thread, but I do have something of interest. The original question was if a fiilm from the 50's was the origin of the idea of roid rage.

We have actually been faced with the stigma of steroids since before there were steroids! Testosterone was first successfully extracted in 1927. It wasn't fully described until 1934, and was first synthesized in 1939. Consider this particular example, which is the oldest 'roid rage story or plotline I have ever found, from 1927:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adv...e_Creeping_Man

So people have been accepting the idea that steriods would cause irrational behavior for at least 12 years, probably more, before the first person could have actually taken them!

Part of the issue is also the exceptionally negative view of masculinity in our society generally.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testosterone_poisoning

I do not wish to argue that the use of androgens does not have an impact on a person's temperament. They do, I know because I have experienced them. I cannot stand the term 'roid-rage, however. Aggressive, dominant, and hyperfocal behavior are not inherantly negative, which is why androgen levels naturaly rise based on certain stimuli. I have also seen and experienced the intentional induction of these states during competition (I am a powerlifter who competes in untested federations, where this is neither against the rules or unexpected) I've seen some amazing aggression directed at a barbell, but i have never observed violence, anti-social behavior, or someone being deprived of their faculty of judgement.

The only time I have ever seen any issue at all with this incresed masculinity of behavior was an incident where someone felt free to stand up in the face of someone literally 3 times their size and be spectacularly rude! I am inclined to think that we have grown accustomed to a fair amount of irrationality on the part of the "typical" person, which magically stops being ok when you hit 300#

[LeatherGryphon]

Any article quoting Alan Alda as an authoritive source is desperate for material. One of the few actors I abhor. Him and Jimmy Stewart. Vastly overrated.

Yeah, Mr. Alda may have said what was quoted but, ... there you go... Oy!

[MuscledHorse]

There are a couple actual scientific studies that exist. I will have to go back and find them. The primary one use standard experimental/control group format where one group had excessive testosterone given to it. Then, both groups were provoked until one or the other reacted violently. The majority of the time (NOT every time--and that's important to notice) the high test group reacted first. Thus, higher test leads to more aggressive behavior. That said, not only were there occasions where the control group member responded first, but the whole thing was done using rodents, who as we all know are a great predictor of human behavior (that last bit is sarcasm. we need a sarcasm font. seriously.). Myself, no matter how much test I've used my mood is always better and, in reference to some of the above posts, my sex drive is through the roof, test or no test.

[schwermarko]

I like this post, my question of course is: "Isn't it appropriate to respond when provoked?"

Just because there are all of these nice social rules and laws in place to keep everyone civil, I don't think it is wise to make a habit of pissing off people that can turn you into burger.

If you can't tell, my life has been a long test in patience recently.

[The Magus]

I know I respond when provoked. Lol.

My experience is limited to one cycle but the biggest dofference I noticed wasn't anger, it was confidence. Where i might have held back on asserting myself because i was worried I was in the wrong, the threshold was lower so that I was more willing to react....but this didnt happen so much with anger as it did with just being a little bit more extroverted.

[MuscledHorse]

Originally Posted by The Magus

I know I respond when provoked. Lol.

My experience is limited to one cycle but the biggest dofference I noticed wasn't anger, it was confidence. Where i might have held back on asserting myself because i was worried I was in the wrong, the threshold was lower so that I was more willing to react....but this didnt happen so much with anger as it did with just being a little bit more extroverted.

I agree entirely. On a cycle I was actually in a way better mood. And the growth improved my confidence and self-image/esteem (especially as I noticed I was getting checked out a lot). The whole 'roid rage' fable has grown out of the question "does more test make you prone to having a shorter fuse when it comes to losing your temper?" Really, guys who were assholes with anger/attitude issues normally (and we've all met one of these in the gym) just become bigger assholes when you give them more test.

[The Magus]

I agree. Even with a hormone as powerful as testosterone, behaviour is a lot more complicated than just flicking a switch.

One thing that I think might help fuel the myth is that I imagine that guys already predisposed to have anger issues might be more likely to take steroids. So instead of testosterone making guys angry, the numbers could mean angry guys do steroids.

[schwermarko]

Me 3, I actually think it has helped me a bit to have my emotions closer to the surface, which is the best way that I can describe the effect. I tend to bury them.

Being on cycle does not shorten my fuse in any way. I was on tren, and was working a job that was a literal disaster. I would have meetings where my hand would tremble because of how angry I was being made, but I kept my cool and continued to negotiate-- my boss on the other hand threw things, lol. I most certainly did not loose control of ANYTHING just because I was on.

Like I said before, Aggressive, hyperfocal, and dominant can be good things!

[randomchat]

Originally Posted by BIGJOEY

roid rage is one of those urban myths that never goes away . the basis of this is because of the increase test and people see guys grunting in the gym etc. usually if a person is a type 1 agressive personality it doesnt matter if you give them over the counter stuff they will get aggressive. give them a few drinks and see what happens. funny how we dont accociate drinking with booze rage we just say they are drunk. most people i know who have used are not out of control by any means but just do their thing and thats all. its the insecure ones that feel the need to show off.

Well said i agree roid rage is a myth gone viral lol i've been on the juice
Felt a sense of well being due to the test levels going up...if anything they make
You feel good!