This. Mind altering drugs vs. drugs that can potentially alter you mind are different. Yes there are countless studies about AAS that show that they can "alter" your mind. EQ, winny, and deca can strip gaba from your brain. Strong androgens can produce aggression, anger, or compulsiveness. There are sides from high or low estrogen on cycle or coming off that effect the brain. Dopamine agonists used to counteract progesterone drugs can downregulate dopamine receptors in your brain. Studies have also shown that suprapsychological doses of testosterone can make you more defensive and hostile than you "should" be. The list goes on and on, but in all of these examples, the effects are side effects and manifest on an individual basis. Hell, too much caffeine can cause anxiety and can change brain chemistry, but we don't call caffeine a mind altering drug. Mind alterning drugs are drugs that directly affect brain chemistry. I don't know anyone who could use DMT or cocaine and not have some sort of mind altering effect. But I know plenty of people who use EQ and don't have anxiety, use tren and don't get mad and make poor decisions, and use dostinex who don't feel terrible when they stop from downregulated dopamine receptors. The point is yes steroids can have brain chemistry side effects, but so can eating fast food and junk every day like many Americans do. The worst (and most unhealthy according to blood work) I ever felt in my entire life was when I became insulin resistant from bulking too much when I was natty. When I started test shortly after that and lost considerable bf, my bloodwork improved dramatically. I was still in range before, but I had improved a lot because I was no longer resistant and thus no longer having anxiety and I also had much better concentration and focus. Oh and I put on 15 lbs and lost 3% bf in only a couple months. Those were the only sides. Everyone around me said I was more pleasant to be around and I personally became happier because I had found a way to simplify my life. Prior to that, I had reached a point where I could no longer gain naturally. I could no longer gain mass without getting in to the 20% bf range and I could not even socialize or date because I had to eat my damn chicken and brown rice every 2 hours. Steroids stopped all that. Steroids allowed me to be more efficient metabolically and work harder. They allowed me to keep progressing in lifting and also maintain a balanced lifestyle. People will always abuse steroids just like people abuse food or alcohol. But in society today, people who drink a lot are cool and we are sympathetic to people who are fat because 'it's not their fault.' But if you take steroids and (as Wes pointed out HRT is a steroid) even as little as essentially doubling your HRT dose, you are an asshole, fellon who is risking their life because your organs could fail and risking the lives of others because you could get in a fit of 'roid rage.' In reality for most people, you are simply taking something that will allow you to keep doing the thing you love and in fact allow you to work harder - to eat more, train harder and more frequently, and to have more to maintain. This side of the story is rarely told. But calling steroids a "mind-altering" drug is the exact demonization of steroids that the government wants and it cannot be tolerated - especially on a board like this.
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