Sometimes, baseball players use steroids in response to all the pressures that they face. Maury Wills spent four years locked in his $500,000 house with blankets covering the windows. He was addicted to steroids. Wills said that his drug problems began after he was fired as manager of the Seattle Mariners in 1981. (Berry Robert C, Glenn M. Wong 2-3) "There was depressions and disappointment. . . . All the people I let down. The embarrassment. . . . Some people get old but never grow up. That's what happened to Maury Wills." Other players have offered various reasons for their introduction to use of steroids: insecurity about playing ( Sam McDowell); social requirements, like proving masculinity ( Johnny Blanchard); struggling and loneliness ( Darrel Porter); a lot of money and an emotional roller coaster of a season, including a troubled marriage ( Keith Hernandez); desiring to forget the many demands on one's time ( Willie Wilson); idle time due to an elbow injury ( Dale Berra); trying to match one's previous best season ( Dwight Gooden); and fear of life's being "dull" ( Dennis Eckersley).
Anadrol, Oxandrin, and Durabolin are anabolic steroids--artificial versions of the hormone testosterone. They are prescribed in certain cases of delayed puberty or muscle wasting.
Dangers When Abused
- Infertility
- Breast development in males
- Facial hair in females
- Halted bone growth
- Liver tumors
- Cancer
- Premature heart attacks
Some of the health consequences of steroid abuse take months or years to develop, and they may occur long after a person has stopped taking these steroids. For example, people who abuse steroids increase their risk for having heart attacks at a young age. (Smith EL, Gilligan C. 49)....................
