Steroid use in America

Dear America,

          Living in America today we are all bombarded with media messages encouraging us to become the absolute best people we can while at the same time, they tell us we are never good enough. This is the way society in America is set up from sports to jobs with the market for any position being extremely selective and competitive only taking the best of the best. Having the competitive edge against the competition is usually the only way to stay ahead of the pack.  Different people have different strengths which they develop over time through practice and hard work but what if there was something you could take and work just as hard as the competition but literally see your “strength” increase twice as fast.  There is something you can take to increase your strength, muscles, image, endurance, perception of yourself, athletic performance and confidence their called steroids. “More than 1 million people in the United States are estimated to have ever used anabolic steroids, with approximately 48% of lifetime anabolic steroid users being 25 years of age or younger.” Needless to say any type of steroid use can be detrimental to your health depending on your age and other medical factors that are involved in the equation. Steroids flood the news headlines with pro athletes being suspended and convicted in court for performance enhancing drugs. News coverage along with America’s competitive nature has brought us to where we are today but where did this idea of using steroids actually come from?

          It turns out steroids were being used in the early 1950’s and America was actually not the first ones in the world to be using them. “In the early 1950s there were persistent rumors to the effect that sports scientists in the Soviet Union had been experimenting with the use of testosterone in an attempt to boost the performances of Soviet Athletes.” It turns out that the Soviets were using steroids and Dr. John Ziegler who was the United States team physician during the 1954 World Weightlifting Championship decided to obtain some testosterone and bring it back to America. “In an attempt to help Western athletes compete more effectively against the Soviets who used testosterone, and in an effort to reduce the bad side effects of testosterone-namely, acne, hair loss, prostate enlargement, and shrinkage of the testicles- Dr. Ziegler aided the CIBA Pharmaceutical Company in the development of Dianabol, or, in generic terms, methandrostenolone. (voy, 1991, p.9)” From the very start of steroids in America Dr. Ziegler knew the dangers that were affiliated with steroid use. Even with the risk he convinced three weightlifters to try Dianabol which is a type of Anabolic-androgenic steroid. There rapid and accelerated success from the steroids put them in a world record level quicker than they could have imagined. From this point on anabolic-androgenic steroids started becoming extremely popular to American athletes but this substance was not actually created for the reason athletes were using it for. “As developed by CIBA, the drug was not intended for use by athletes, but was developed for use in treating patients suffering from burns and certain postoperative patients.” Dr. Ziegler could have never expected the steroid movement that was about to take place over the next 50 years but perhaps he should have taken that into consideration. He took a substance that should have been used for medicinal purposes and gave it to athletes who started to use the drug in high doses which eventually would hurt their bodies not help them. “It was almost a sports world analogy to the story of Dr. Frankenstein. Soon after Dianabol hit the market Dr. Ziegler knew he had created a monster, a fact he regretted for the rest of his life.” Although Dr. Ziegler introduced steroids in America and to the athletic community if he had not someone else would have. Also at the same time that day in age pills and any other substance to enhance performance were not considered cheating. Steroids were perfectly legal in America in the 1950’s and 60’s nothing like today when athletes need to closely watch exactly what they are putting into their bodies.

America in the past 50 years we have not done enough to educate the entire population on the risks of steroids. Steroids can affect someone mentally and physically leaving them feeling dependent on steroids to be happy and be able to except themselves. Steroids were not meant to build muscle, strength, endurance, and quickness but meant to heal burns and medicate patients. Somewhere since the 1950’s we have gone wrong in advertising steroids to the population for all of the wrong reasons. “Fierce competition in the world of professional sports, along with an overall societal idealization of lean, muscular physiques, have made steroid and nutritional supplement use a popular option.” I can see a trend since the 1950’s until today with America that may relate to the reason why over a million people in America chose to use steroids. We always want to be the biggest and the bigger we are the better we feel. This idealization in America is not achievable but we still push our body’s to the limit which eventually leads to the destruction of our health. The sports and health market is a multibillion dollar industry which is largely based on companies and products which claim to help you achieve a goal. “The most popular nutritional supplements used by athletes include androstendione, DHEA, creatine and ephedrine. Many of these supplements also claim to work by increasing testosterone, a claim that has been scientifically debated.” All of these products claim to help us in achieving our goals but not one of them is scientifically proven to increase testosterone. If America did not put the largest body builders who are taking steroids on a pedestal and on the cover of muscle magazines perhaps America would not be as inclined to look as if they do. Another thing for America to keep in mind is many of their body builders we see on television or at competitions only look that way one day out of the year because of the rigorous training they must go through to get in absolute top shape.

I have researched steroids on all different levels of athletes and ages which people begin or are taking steroids and I have found that America should be most concerned with steroid consumption at the adolescent age. At this age adolescents are beginning to develop into the people they want to be and steroids seem to be an extremely appealing option to build confidence and image. “Once they start using AAS and experience the desired psychological effects, these individuals could get addicted to the good feelings they experience.” Just like many other drug AAS use can turn into an addiction and starting at a young age use can continue for a lifetime. AAS users find themselves feeling better when on steroids but taking themselves off can lead to withdrawal showing dependence of the drug. This next quote is from a 22 year old weight lifter who has been battling steroids and asked how he feels off steroids. “When he stopped taking AAS, he experienced cravings for steroids, his self-esteem went lower and he felt that he was not fast enough.” This subject needed steroids to feel like himself or at least as how he wanted to he wanted to feel. No one should need a substance to feel normal or be dependent on it to survive and life happy. Steroids are extremely addictive and people need to know how bad they can actually be for you. On the other side of this story when this 22 year old weight lift was on steroids this is his normal “happy” behavior. “He reported experiencing depression, problems in sleeping and lack of energy as well as irritability with some temper outburst that caused problems between him and his family” While this individual was on and off steroids he had negative responses from both his body and his surroundings. This tells me and should tell you America that being on steroids can hurt your body and mind without you even knowing its happening. Even trying to get off steroids after taking them for awhile can hurt your perception of yourself and damage your mind. All in all, steroids can start out as a recreational substance but turn your whole life into a downhill struggle, America Vs. Steroids.

          Thank you for your attention America,

                                                Josiah Kapp