14 Jan 2013

We Suncoast Rehabilitation Center have seen prominent sports figures brought down by the allure of drugs.  We wanted to get into why people in this field may become tempted to start using.

Athlete Doping

There are three different types of drugs that athletes most often become addicted to either physically or emotionally: performance enhancing drugs (like steroids), painkillers (like codeine or hydrocodone), uppers (like speed, amphetamines or cocaine).

Let’s take a look at each of these drug types, and why an athlete might decide to go ahead and use them to help them on their playing field:

Performance Enhancing Drugs:  We have taken a look at these drugs in another article, however we’ll do a quick overview here.

Steroids are a derivative of the hormone testosterone and may be used by athletes to make muscles larger.  Steriod abuse scandals have plagued bicycle racing, baseball and football, for example. Today most professional sports have banned steroid use. There are many different types of steroids, but generally steroids are either taken orally or injected.  

Because of the prevalence of steroids among athletes, other new athletes may feel pressured to take them.  However, steroids can become emotionally addictive, and have emotional as well as physical side effects like liver damage, mood swings, aggressive behavior, fluid retention, etc.  Steroid use can also cause depression which can last for over a year after the user stops taking them.

Steroids are used medically for things like arthritis relief and asthma.  But even appropriate medical use of steroids can generate the same side effects as above.

Painkillers:  Often, athletes work themselves past the point where their body is comfortable.  They also sustain injuries on the field, and can have a need for painkillers at some point in their career. Given career pressures to perform, professional athletes may use drugs to override the pain of injuries, when, medically, the wiser course would be to sit it out and let the injury heal naturally. Often, when the athlete plays with a drug deadening the warning sign -- pain -- from the injured area, they exacerbate that injury. This means that, if they want to play the next game, they need to take even more pain killers to dull the worsened injury. Consequently painkiller abuse occurs often among athletes and can lead to addiction.

Various types of painkillers have different types of side effects, but the most common are fatigue, constipation, nausea, depression, muscle spasms, irritability, mood changes, addiction, and more – depending on the painkiller.

Uppers: Although banned by virtually all sports organization, there have been problems with athletes taking amphetamines, such as Adderall, in an effort to improve performance and concentration.   Side effects of prolonged amphetamine abuse include: addiction, increased heart rate, increased aggression, mood swings, insomnia, delirium, anorexia, and more.

If you know anyone who is abusing prescription drugs like steroids, painkillers or amphetamine-type drugs, or if you know an athlete who takes drugs in order to improve performance or to ignore pain, contact us today at 877-850-7355.  We have a safe and effective drug-free program to help them end their addiction.

Refs: Fitness Uncovered, USADA, Stanford University, DrugFreeWorld.org, Opiates.com, Sports.Yahoo.com, TBO.com

NARCONON SUNCOAST

DRUG EDUCATION AND REHABILITATION