Steroids becoming integral part of modern-day lifestyle

Anabolic steroids are being admired by people across the world for promoting lean muscle mass and stay in the best shape.

"The psychological effects are highly variable," said Harrison Pope, steroid specialist, psychiatrist and professor of psychiatry at Harvard University. "Most people who take anabolic steroids don't get much of any psychological effects, but for reasons that are not well understood, a minority of people can get quite striking psychological effects."

From Iowastatedaily.com:

"About one person out of 10 will get really quite uncharacteristically irritable and aggressive on steroids, and one person out of 10 will develop fairly pronounced depressive symptoms after coming off of steroids, especially if they've taken them for a prolonged period of time," Pope said.

For users like Carl, the psychological effects are not even on the radar. Carl focuses primarily on his physical health and monitors it through frequent checks of his blood.

"Blood work is essential. I get it done every 12 weeks or so to make sure my health stays in check," Carl said. "I use a private lab where you can schedule an appointment at one of their sites. They'll take your blood and it's completely anonymous."

"Most of us [power lifters] go to a powerlifting meet or body-building show to see just how far the human body can be pushed," Ryan Wagner, certified sports nutritionist at the Ames Nutrishop, said. "Regardless of if the person is using anabolics or not, the amount of hard work, dedication and technique that goes into it is at a higher level than most people will ever realize."