What is roid rage? [Myth or a frightening reality?]

You don’t have to be an avid user of steroids to recognize the term “roid rage”. When talking about “roid rage” people mean an angry outburst caused by the use of steroids. Basically, it’s the image of a massive muscle-man overdoing it with the steroids, turning himself into some roid rage psycho.

Truth is, that’s not really how it works and, in fact, roid rage has still not been completely proven. So let’s dive into it and get things straight, once and for all.

What is roid rage? Is it real? What other side-effects can steroids have? What else can cause roid rage? Find the answers to these questions – and more – down below. Time to answer the old question: roid rage – myth or frightening reality?

What is roid rage?

Is roid rage real?

Other ways steroids mess with your head

What causes roid rage?

Other causes of roid rage

The final verdict

What is roid rage?

Roid rage points to a situation in which the excessive use of anabolic steroids creates a crazy, testosterone-driven condition. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the person becomes angry or starts “raging”. In some cases, roid rage could be seen as the steroids themselves raging out of control and creating unwanted effects.

Just reading that, you understand why the question “what is roid rage” doesn’t have a clear, straightforward answer. Roid rage can take on many forms, and it can be very different in intensity as well. But, when trying to give it one definition, I would say roid rage is a state in which you lose control of your impulses, causing you to overreact in a very emotional – mostly very aggressive – way. Question is though; is it actually real?

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Is roid rage real?

Couldn’t resist adding that roid rage meme here, but seriously guys, is roid rage actually real? Can steroids make you go completely crazy and turn you into a raging caveman?

Well, yes and no…

When you inject steroids you obviously mess with your testosterone levels – that’s kind of the point – and this will have an effect on your emotions. Testosterone has often been linked to aggression (for example in this study here), so obviously, raising your t-levels can raise your aggression levels as well.

But – there’s always a but(t) with steroids, isn’t there – this doesn’t mean you instantly turn into a fist-swinging hulk. You might know a few people using steroids, so let me ask you this: are they raging madmen? Probably not. And that’s the whole point. The fact that you are artificially altering the testosterone levels in your body can definitely affect your aggression, but it won’t instantly turn you into a beast; aside from switching to beastmode in the gym of course!

So, I would say you don’t have to worry about turning into a roid rage psycho straight away, but there are some REAL SIDE EFFECTS to steroid use. Like any other drug (prescription or not) this stuff can mess with your head. How, you wonder? Let me tell ya in more detail below.

Other ways steroids mess with your head

Roids can mess with your head in many more ways than just making you a bit angry. Despite the lack of conclusive scientific evidence when it comes to the frantic episode we’re talking about here, there are some other side effects to steroids that have been proven. Some nasty psychological symptoms can pop up when you start injecting yourself on a regular basis:

aggressive behavior
mood instability
manic behavior
audio and visual hallucinations
delusions and disordered thinking

A combination of the above symptoms, especially the first three, could result in a mentality that is unstable, aggressive, and understandably called “roid rage”. And it doesn’t end there. Studies have linked steroids to mental problems such as depression, anxiety, cognitive deterioration, psychotic reactions, and more. That’s some seriously messed up shit if you ask me!

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What causes roid rage?

You might be surprised to know just how many people take steroids these days. What was once reserved for the craziest people at the gyms who valued their gains over everything is now being used en masse. Steroids have gained a lot of popularity, even among teenage school kids. The Crime Reduction Initiatives group in the UK reported an increase of over 600% in steroid users in just three years.

That makes the scary side of anabolic steroids that much scarier, because it could be happening to people you know! Steroids produce some serious results – which is why they’re so popular – but they can also cause some serious side effects as we’ve seen above. One of the causes of roid rage is that boost in testosterone you get and how it just causes your hormones to be so out of whack. But that’s not the only cause.

Other causes of roid rage

One of the reasons that steroids can have such a wide array of effects is because many people purchase them online. The easy access to these products, plus the fact that many manufacturers are just trying to make a few bucks instead of making a serious effort to deliver quality products, means that you could be purchasing products that contain more, less, or different ingredients than what’s advertised.

We don’t have to tell you what the dangers of injecting random substances could be. There are a lot of things that provide different effects and could make a user think that they’re experiencing genuine steroid effects. In reality, they could be injecting any number of compounds that could be catastrophic for their bodies.

But, that’s still not the full story.

Sometimes, roid rage could be a misdiagnosis of a symptom caused by something entirely different from steroids. A lot of aggressive body trainers like to use illegal drugs, like cocaine or amphetamines, because they allow them to exert a greater amount of energy.

This is extremely dangerous due to the fact that drugs allow you to push your body much further than it can handle. This makes it very easy to do permanent damage by tearing ligaments, ripping muscles, and even fracturing bones.

In addition, repeated use of drugs like these can have a negative impact on your mental state. After a few days of using amphetamines, your dopamine system will be drained and overused. This can cause you to lash out, or make you irritable and angry.

Amphetamines also cause sleep deprivation, which can lead to hallucinations, delusions, and emotional instability. All these factors can easily be confused with the psychological problems that steroids can cause.

See another steroids side effect: The Roid Gut >>

The final verdict

“Roid rage” is a term that might have conflicting definitions depending on who you hear it from. All of these definitions, however, boil down to an excessive amount of effects caused by doing too many steroids.

Definition one refers to the aggression and emotional instability that steroids can cause. In looser terms, it can refer to the physical side effects that can manifest from overuse of steroids that make people look scary.

Either way, the frantic state people call “roid rage” isn’t something that you want to experience. If you’re going to use steroids, whether it’s Dianabol, Winstrol, Clenbuterol or something else, be careful, and stop ahead of time if you start noticing negative effects.

Learn more about the side effects of some of the most popular steroids: