Athletes are held to a standard they are expected to follow and live up to. That stress put on many student athletes can lead to them turning to drugs, which open the doors to many negative effects. Drug abuse occurs in all sports and at most levels of competition. Despite numerous tests that were “clean,” Lance Armstrong eventually admitted to using banned substances throughout the majority of his cycling career. That included the use of erythropoietin and human growth hormone.
Here’s how cannabis use became prohibited—and the science of its biological, psychological, and social effects. You can read more about performance-enhancing drugs at Australian Academy of Science. To learn more about the use of prohibited substances in sport visit the Sport Integrity Australia website.
Drugs In Sport and Addiction
Vigilant testing and heavy sanctions stimulate athletes to use more dangerous substances and combinations for both masking and performance purposes. Our most recent research, as well as other meta-studies, shows that elite sport presents a special problem because its performance demands encourage, and perhaps even impel, the experimental use of substances [13, 14, 29]. For example, in one study, banned athletes reported that a motivation for doping was to keep pace with competitors and ensure the financial rewards of success [30], a form of rationale Kirkwood labelled ‘defensive doping’ [31].
Anabolic steroids are synthetic drugs that mimic or enhance the effects of testosterone. In medical settings, they can be used to treat muscle loss and delay the onset of puberty. Anabolic steroids can affect sex hormone production in men, resulting in shrunken testicles, infertility, gynecomastia, and prostate enlargement. In women, they will begin to develop ‘manly’ features such as baldness, more body hair, and a bigger clitoris.
Are there any performance-enhancing drugs in football?
In analysing a series of case studies, Carstairs exposed the complex and often contradictory responses to doping expressed through the popular media, message boards, and polls [37]. Athletes who have failed drug tests can receive drug use in sports sympathy and condemnation simultaneously. Athletes at all levels and of all ages are susceptible to injury, and the treatment method for those injuries can sharply increase the potential for addiction to prescription painkillers.
Once a single athlete decides that using performance enhancing drugs is to their benefit, then it creates a powerful effect of peer pressure on the remainder of the individuals involved in that competition. Sports Illustrated demonstrated this effect by surveying Olympic athletes about using doping as a way to experience https://ecosoberhouse.com/ success. Over 50% admitted that they would be willing to take a drug, even if it eventually killed them, if it would allow them to win each event they entered for five consecutive years. Performance enhancers speak directly to the “win at any cost” mentality that athletes feel pressured into when performing.
« An actual or potential health risk »
Communicate the serious effect of drugs on the game by asking your players to guess how their foul shots, field goals or home runs would be affected by drugs. The right treatment for an athlete depends primarily on how long they have been struggling with substance abuse, the substance they are abusing and their history of relapse or lack thereof. Whatever the athete’s lifestyle or goals, there is a treatment program to suit their needs.
He also stated on the Oprah Winfrey show that he had been blood doping. Armstrong won seven Tour de France titles during this time, which shows how dominant someone can be when they go to extreme lengths to manipulate their physical health. Doping can set the stage for unfair play, putting athletes who aren’t taking drugs or hormones at a disadvantage.
You can’t force someone into rehab, but you can take these steps to help a person realize they need rehab. Side effects of creatine can include gaining weight and cramps in the belly or muscles. Diuretics can lead to death if an athlete uses them for doping.
