During the mid 1980s, the media reported that using steroids could cause people to become really angry and aggressive, which they called ‘steroid rage’. This means that people who use steroids might act in a very angry or violent way that doesn’t make sense for the situation they’re in (Lucidi, 2019). There have been studies on humans that show taking high doses of steroids can cause aggressive behavior (e.g., Pagonis et al., 2006). However, it’s hard to say for sure if it’s the steroids themselves are causing the aggression or if other things are at play, such as individual traits (Pope et al., 2012). In animal studies, there’s clear evidence that steroids make animals more aggressive (McGinnis, 2004). More research likely needs to be done to fully understand the relationship between aggressive behavior and steroid use.
McGinnis M. Y. (2004). Anabolic androgenic steroids and aggression: studies using animal models. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1036, 399–415. https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1330.024
Pagonis, T., Angelopoulos, N., Koukoulis, G., & Hadjichristodoulou, C. (2006). Psychiatric side Effects induced by supraphysiological doses of combinations of ana- bolic steroids correlate to the severity of abuse. European psychiatry, 21(8), 551562.
Pope, H. G., Jr., Kanayama, G., & Hudson, J. I. (2012). Risk factors for illicit anabolic-androgenic steroid use in male weightlifters: A cross-sectional cohort study. Biological Psychiatry, 71, 254261.
