Also know as

• roids
• sauce
• juice

So ‘on the juice’ means taking steroids.

What are steroids?

(Anabolic) steroids are made from the male hormone testosterone. They can be prescribed by a doctor to build up muscle - for example for people with cancer or HIV whose muscles have wasted - or bought illegally for body building.

Anabolic steroids aren't the same as corticosteroids which are prescribed by doctors to treat skin problems, asthma or inflammation and which don't build muscle (although these are also referred to as ‘steroids’).

Anabolic steroids come as pills or can be injected into muscle, usually into the buttock.

What's the attraction?

Most people admire and/or lust after muscle. It's a defining characteristic of being male, strong and powerful. Steroids increase muscle and strength, but only with appropriate exercise. They allow muscle growth that wouldn't be possible without them.

In our muscle-fixated society and 'shirts off' gay scene, steroid-driven body building can give men more confidence and increase how attractive, powerful, in control and masculine they feel, or at least appear. Being big can make men feel accepted by, and desirable to, other muscular men, and part of an elite club. Muscles can seem like the key to being liked and loved, with steroids a fast ticket to that.

Increasingly the images we see of muscular men are of steroid-enhanced physiques. So men often find themselves using steroids to compete with this unnatural ideal male body type. And with many parts of society seeing gay men as not being 'real men', some of us feel particular pressure to be extra masculine and muscular.

Some men have a body image disorder such as muscle dysmorphia (also known as bigorexia or reverse anorexia).

They see themselves as thinner than they really are, are self-conscious about their bodies and their worries about their physique impact on daily life, for example their diet or excessive training. For them steroids become a tool to bulk up with while chasing their dream of the perfect body and competing with guys around them.

Roids can become a way of coping with low self-esteem, but often don't cure a man's dissatisfaction with his shape. And coming off steroids and losing bulk can leave some men depressed, which drives more steroid use.

Steroids and sex

Men often feel more sexually confident and desirable with a bulked-up steroid-enhanced body. Roids can often increase sex drive, although loss of sex drive can also happen.

Balls may shrink with long-term use as the body stops making its own testosterone, but dick size isn't affected.