The Adverse Effects of Anabolic Steroids

Body building is a great sport... it enhances the personality of an individual both biologically and psychologically... like any other sport or personality changing training it requires time and dedication... thousands of impatient youngsters take the short-cut, by consuming anabolic steroids without any professional supervision... Leading From mild effects like sexual dysfunction to major like psychosis (madness)-

the most common side effects:

1. elevate blood pressure,
2. harmful changes in blood cholesterol levels: some steroids cause an increase in LDL cholesterol and a decrease in HDL cholesterol.
3. Alter fasting blood sugar and glucose tolerance tests. Increasing risk of diabetes.
4. Increase the risk of cardiovascular disease or coronary artery disease.
5. Acne is fairly common due to stimulation of the sebaceous glands by increased testosterone levels.
6. Premature baldness
7. High doses of oral anabolic steroid compounds can cause liver damage,
8. There are also sex-specific side effects of anabolic steroids.:
a. Development of breast tissue in males, a condition called gynecomastia
b. Reduced sexual function in males
c. Temporary infertility due to testicular atrophy ( decrease in size and productivity of testicles.) This inhibits production of sperm. This is a temporary side effect. The size of the testicles usually returns to normal within a few weeks of discontinuing anabolic steroid use as normal production of sperm resumes.

d. Female-specific side effects include increases in body hair, deepening of the voice, enlarged clitoris, and temporary decreases in menstrual cycles.

Severe side effects of anabolic steroids-

a. In adolescents the steroids may prematurely stop the lengthening of bones resulting in stunted growth.
b. Accelerated bone maturation, that leads to decreased height in adolescents.
c. increased frequency and duration of erections. Also premature sexual development.
d. Alterations in the structure of the heart, such as enlargement and thickening of the left ventricle, hypertension, heart failure, arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death.


Psychiatric effects

Upon administration, a small quantity of anabolic steroids goes to the brain through blood circulation. Over a long-run, these small quantities not only stimulate the brain , but also make it dependant on them. From the 1st dose onwards they start bringing small neuro-chemical and neuronal changes within the brain structure. These changes are manifested as severe psychiatric side effects.These include:

1. Aggression and hypomania- this is called "roid rage". Anabolic Steroids stimulate the brain upon consumption. This leads to increased irritability, hostility and anger. Once the anger is triggered, it can lead to disastrous consequences, even murder.

2. Clinical Depression and suicide - Both the consumption and withdrawal effects of anabolic steroids can trigger clinical depression and suicidal behaviour. Low self-esteem and lower levels of confidence, along with memory problems, concentration problems, sleep irregularities and negative thinking are prominently observed.

3. Addiction potential- They have very high addiction potential. Once such an addiction is triggered, the individual will spend majority of time, money and thought thinking over procuring the substance. The effect of the substance. He/she will require larger quantities of the substance. Over-indulgence in exercise, extreme episodes of violence, excessively thinking about the substance, extremes like involvement in anti-social activities to procure the substance can also occur.

4. Body dysmorphic disorder- A common mind-body interaction seen among anabolic steroid uses is the body dysmorphic disorder. An individual is always remains dissatisfied with his/her own body image. He intensifies the struggle to achieve a Adonis-like perfect body. This makes him overindulge in exercise, increased thinking about body building, increased learning and implementation about body building. This deviates him from his socio0cultural responsibilities and introduces personality changes, changes in sleep and appetite pattern , socio-cultural interaction which can lead to harmful effects including death.

5. Schizophrenia or Psychosis – Psychosis or developing an altered reality fully coloured with visions and voices is one of the severe most side effects of anabolic steroids. It’s mostly happens in cases of individuals with family history of schizophrenia, individuals in clinical depression or hypomanic state.

 
for further information contact me at - 
 
Dr.Hemant Mittal (MBBS, PGDPM)
website - http://www.mindmantra.in 
email- eksoch@gmail.com

The Power Of Love

The Power of Love


Love is as critical for your mind and body as oxygen. It's not negotiable. The more connected you are, the healthier you will be both physically and emotionally. The less connected you are, the more you are at risk.

It is also true that the less love you have, the more depression you are likely to experience in your life. Love is probably the best antidepressant there is because one of the most common sources of depression is feeling unloved. Most depressed people don't love themselves and they do not feel loved by others. They also are very self-focused, making them less attractive to others and depriving them of opportunities to learn the skills of love.

There is a mythology in our culture that love just happens. As a result, the depressed often sit around passively waiting for someone to love them. But love doesn't work that way. To get love and keep love you have to go out and be active and learn a variety of specific skills.

Most of us get our ideas of love from popular culture. We come to believe that love is something that sweeps us off our feet. But the pop-culture ideal of love consists of unrealistic images created for entertainment, which is one reason so many of us are set up to be depressed. It's part of our national vulnerability, like eating junk food, constantly stimulated by images of instant gratification. We think it is love when it's simply distraction and infatuation.

One consequence is that when we hit real love we become upset and disappointed because there are many things that do not fit the cultural ideal. Some of us get demanding and controlling, wanting someone else to do what we think our ideal of romance should be, without realizing our ideal is misplaced.

It is not only possible but necessary to change one's approach to love to ward off depression. Follow these action strategies to get more of what you want out of life—to love and be loved.

• Recognize the difference between limerance and love. Limerance is the psychological state of deep infatuation. It feels good but rarely lasts. Limerance is that first stage of mad attraction whereby all the hormones are flowing and things feel so right. Limerance lasts, on average, six months. It can progress to love. Love mostly starts out as limerance, but limerance doesn't always evolve into love.

• Know that love is a learned skill, not something that comes from hormones or emotion particularly. Erich Fromm called it "an act of will." If you don't learn the skills of love you virtually guarantee that you will be depressed, not only because you will not be connected enough but because you will have many failure experiences.

• Learn good communication skills. They are a means by which you develop trust and intensify connection. The more you can communicate the less depressed you will be because you will feel known and understood.

There are always core differences between two people, no matter how good or close you are, and if the relationship is going right those differences surface. The issue then is to identify the differences and negotiate them so that they don't distance you or kill the relationship.

You do that by understanding where the other person is coming from, who that person is, and by being able to represent yourself. When the differences are known you must be able to negotiate and compromise on them until you find a common ground that works for both.

• Focus on the other person. Rather than focus on what you are getting and how you are being treated, read your partner's need. What does this person really need for his/her own well-being? This is a very tough skill for people to learn in our narcissistic culture. Of course, you don't lose yourself in the process; you make sure you're also doing enough self-care.

• Help someone else. Depression keeps people so focused on themselves they don't get outside themselves enough to be able to learn to love. The more you can focus on others and learn to respond and meet their needs, the better you are going to do in love.

• Develop the ability to accommodate simultaneous reality. The loved one's reality is as important as your own, and you need to be as aware of it as of your own. What are they really saying, what are they really needing? Depressed people think the only reality is their own depressed reality.

• Actively dispute your internal messages of inadequacy. Sensitivity to rejection is a cardinal feature of depression. As a consequence of low self-esteem, every relationship blip is interpreted far too personally as evidence of inadequacy. Quick to feel rejected by a partner, you then believe it is the treatment you fundamentally deserve. But the rejection really originates in you, and the feelings of inadequacy are the depression speaking.

Recognize that the internal voice is strong but it's not real. Talk back to it. "I'm not really being rejected, this isn't really evidence of inadequacy. I made a mistake." Or "this isn't about me, this is something I just didn't know how to do and now I'll learn." When you reframe the situation to something more adequate, you can act again in an effective way and you can find and keep the love that you need.

(This article was forwarded to me by a friend. And I thought it was apt to share it with all of you)

Regards

Dr.Hemant Mittal (MBBS, PGDPM)
http://www.mindmantra.in/
email- eksoch@gmail.com

THE STRESS CYCLE

The Stress Cycle

This is one of the most common health hazards that nearly 70% people face at least once in their life time. It not only affects a person emotionally, but financially and physically as it triggers repeated visits to doctors, blood checkups and medications.

What is The Stress Cycle?
It can be described as the following:

• You get negative moods or emotions caused by problems in at home, workplace, traffic, or friends. This ultimately led to generation of negative stress.

• This negative stress increases the biological demand on the body. This causes changes in blood circulation and weakens body immune system.

The most common physical manifestations of stress are high blood pressure, allergies, regular headaches, common cold, fever, digestive problems, memory problems, sleep problems, weight gain, concentration problems, sexual difficulties, hair fall, skin problems (acne, lack of glow on the skin).

• Since the root cause of Stress is never treated, these aliments keep recurring over a short period of time.

• The presence of negative stress along with recurring physical aliment, introduce change in your personality. This gives rise to negative attitudes and behaviors towards others.

• The realization that your behavior towards others has altered leads to further increase in negative stress and generation of anxiety.

• This newly added negative stress and anxiety reinforce your negative moods or emotions resulting in a full circle of stress.

Most stress sufferers can identify this stress cycle in their lives. But find themselves helpless to prevent it or battle it.


How to Prevent It?
The core belief of ancient medical practices, like ayurveda, has been treating the root cause.
To treat the root cause it’s important to identify the root cause.
If you are someone who has one or more of the above mentioned physical aliment then it’s time to introspect.
It’s time for you to think about your stress, how it has been affecting you, and what can be done to prevent it.


What is effective Help?
Modern living has introduced the concept of “immediate-results” or “short-term benefits” into our society. If you have the money and means, you can buy what you want. Certainly we carry that same attitude when it comes to health. You have a headache you take a pill. You have a common cold you take 2 pills. You have bad stomach you take a pill and powder. But when it comes to stress you just let it be.

In short, you never cure the main cause. You explore a 1000 ways to deal with it. You might even start a few of them, but along the way you forget and return back to the 1st square.

Like a small child, you blame the world and then you blame god. Still there is no solution. Finally you give up, and sit as lame duck for clinical depression to eat you over.

Effective help is a long term method. It might include some initial short term ways of bringing your stress down, but it focuses on long term ways to conquer stress and break the stress cycle.


Real-Life Examples?

“ Vikram and his family had noticed a change in his personality over the last few months. The pressure of performance at work, and the stressful commute were taking toll on him. He had become more irritable, pessimistic and violent. A visit to his general physician for continuous headache revealed high blood pressure. At 33yr, he was a mild hypertensive. His doctor asked him to take anti-hypertensive medication for 6months. A few weeks after starting medication, he noticed stomach problems starting to develop. He again visited his doctor, who thought it too be an Irritable Bowel Syndrome. A new tablet was added along with his already on-going anti-hypertensive. A few months later, he showed hair fall. He visited a dermatologist who introduced another tablet into his diet.
All his doctors told him to keep the stress down. Unfortunately, he knew about it, but never worked upon it.
I met Vikram, nearly 3years after he had been diagnosed with High blood Pressure. He still continued the tablet. Which in today’s society is sort of fashionable to consume? He still had his Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and he had lost all his hair. When I met him, he was suffering from Generalized Anxiety Disorder. That meant another pill to be added, but something that could be easily preventable.”


“Reshma was always a bold and beautiful girl. Her expectations from life were high. She wanted the best. A few years after her marriage, her personality started showing a change. She slowly became fearful, would dedicate most of her time taking care of her kids. Would involve herself in none productive work. Would spend time on the phone with her friends, or watching the T.V. slowly she gained a lot of weight, lost the glow on her face and skin started to sag. She visited a dermatologist for her skin treatment, when he suddenly happened to ask her about stress levels. She confessed to be feeling very lonely. Thou her family loved her she always felt more of the provider than the receiver of love.
She was referred for psychiatric help, which she never took.
5 yrs later, during one of her visits to India, she suffered a nervous breakdown. I was contacted by her family for a home visit. They wanted to keep the whole issue secret. I met her again at a coffee shop a few days after the incident. That’s when she told me, how she had been experiencing stress and its related physical aliment since more than 7yrs”.


“Shilpa was an amazing human being. She was always the first one to help others. This made her very popular among her peers and community. Being from a Punjabi background, she constantly faced the wrath of close family members for being over-weight. She had already been “rejected” by 5 prospective grooms because of her weight. Hundreds of thousands of rupees where spent on “helping” her become slim. From crash diets, to expensive slimming treatments, to liposuction, everything had been tried and failed. This issue had taken a dangerous effect on her mother. One day after battling it for few months, her mother walked into my clinic to seek treatment for severe depression that was forcing her towards suicidal thoughts. As Shilpa was accompanying her mother, I decided to psycho-analyze the young lady’s mind. It wasn’t soon before I found that she had a problem of compulsive eating. That was triggered by stress. Within 3 months Shilpa, lost 15kgs, and above all lost her stress. Today 9 months after I last met her, I daily bump into smiling, playful and cute pictures of her and her husband uploaded on Facebook”

Regards,
Dr.Hemant Mittal (MBBS, PGDPM)
http://www.mindmantra.in/
email- eksoch@gmail.com