Roid Rage – Is It Real, or Just an Asshole on Steroids?

We have all heard it before, ‘Roid Rage’ is bullshit. It’s not true. People say there is no evidence that roid rage exists and that guy who is acting like a crazy jerk known to be on steroids is just an ASSHOLE on steroids! Ok, I get it. But being the Doc, I feel obligated to do my research on what is really going on here. Everyone knows that I am the medical expert on the clinical side of anabolic/androgenic steroids (AAS) and that I take care of men who are using or have used AAS and are suffering. I’ve been doing this since 2003. My clinical interest and expertise lies within Anabolic Steroid Induced Hypogonadism (ASIH) and the cardiovascular affects resulting from AAS use. Of course, I am well versed regarding the psychiatric affects of AAS, but I have always stayed away from writing this particular article… for the fear of the unknown.

Trying to understand so-called roid rage is a frustrating undertaking. From the equivocal findings of (usually) small observational and placebo studies, to popularized pejorative media accounts, and roid deniers on steroid websites, it’s clear that there is no consensus on the definition of this phenomenon or what causes it. The best one can do is provide a representative sample of these sources to see where, if at all, these converge.

 SUBSCRIBE TO OUR  YOU TUBE CHANNEL

To prepare for this article, I spent hours reviewing the Evidenced-Based-Data on steroids and psychiatric events. Boy, was I amazed and, wow, how much I learned! I found tons of data, but became increasingly confused. There is definitely no slam dunk on this issue, as per the “experts” and I would assume it is because there is no obvious mechanism of action, no smoking gun, at least that we can find today. Here is one of the more ‘respectable’ reports that I found: