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Has anyone had experience with their WS using steroids? My therapist made it clear that it’s no excuse for cheating, but she mentioned that people who are insecure often turn to steroids — and those same insecurities can lead to infidelity. It actually makes a lot of sense, but I’m wondering if anyone else has insight or personal experience with this connection

I think there is evidence of real issues with ‘roid brain. In Ga a steroid user killed his wife in a fit of rage. It is a powerful drug. I just looked it up and long use can cause psychological issues. There is something call ‘roid rage.

Yes, insecurities can lead a person to seek validation from others. That's what my wife did :/

Even though she knew I would move heaven and earth for her and lay down my life for her, that wasn't enough. She needed a younger macho good looking MARRIED man to convince her she was still attractive at 49 y/o.

I can see a guy using steroids to increase muscle mass to improve his body. He may do this to just make himself feel better about himself or if he is insecure he might do it to attract the attention of women but I do not think there is a definitive connection between steroid use and infidelity

I do not think there is a definitive connection between steroid use and infidelity

Me either, but I can see the same personality that might nudge someone to use steroids as a means of gaining attention and thus seeking validation could be the same personality type to seek further validation by having an affair. I'd guess one does not necessarily lead to the other, tho.

Also something to consider, steroid use typically raises libido… if you’re irrationally horny, it’s probably harder to say no to temptation, even if you’ve got a willing partner at home.

Also something to consider, steroid use typically raises libido…

Does it? I know testosterone can do that. But then I've heard or read about some guys who use steroids and have issues with shrinkage and performance.

I've HEARD that, but I have no clue. I know next to nothing about the side effects of steroid use.

I did some googling. Anabolic steroid usage can increase libido, as testosterone levels influence the sex drive. However, it can shrink the gonads (responsible for sex steroid production and secretion), as the continual presence of the exogenous hormones signal to your body that production is too high and all of the tissue which produces it is no longer necessary to maintain... ED is also a common side effect, I believe because the body's hormones go all out of balance. We are supposed to have certain ratios of progesterone, testosterone, estrogen, and prolactin, which all play a role in the development of secondary sex characteristics, arousal, the inflation of erectile tissues, gamete production, lactation, gestation, etc. (These things apply to female steroid users, as well.)

So I would think a person using steroids would generally have a higher sex drive (unless they're cutting to extremely low body fat percentages; then they will probably feel like garbage, and their bodies will not want to waste any caloric expenditure on reproduction), though they may experience issues with ED... The increased libido would make it more difficult to resist temptation, though the performance anxiety of those who suffer with ED may reduce the likelihood of them actually cheating.

ETA: to clarify, after reading others' comments after mine, I in no way intended to make it sound like remaining faithful while on steroids is impossible or that steroids let WS off the hook for their own choices... Just that having higher libido probably makes for greater temptation and fatigue of willpower, making it more likely that someone using steroids would make the wrong choice and cheat (and that would still be their fault, of course). Just to clarify.

[This message edited by DayByDay96 at 8:42 PM, Monday, October 13th]

I have quite a lot of knowledge in this arena. Not because I have or have ever used them, but I was very much into bodybuilding when I was younger, (still am) and used to run in those groups that did use them.
Currently I do use testosterone, which is similar. Steroids are a synthetic testosterone. And basically do the same thing to your body.
If used correctly, yes it does raise libido. I don’t think it would make someone cheat though. We are all responsible for our own urges and responsible to control them. It doesn’t turn you into a sex maniac.
ED as a result of performance enhancing drugs is almost always because someone wasn’t doing regular bloodwork, and their estrogen levels went way too high. There are estrogen blockers that fix this.
A very small percentage of guys can still get ED just because for one reason or another their bodies don’t like/cant adapt to the test or steroids.
Roid rage can happen with people blasting way too much of either test or steroids. It’s basically all hormones out of control and unbalanced. For example, a therapeutic dose of testosterone is typically 200mg or less per week. Abusers are blasting 500-900mg a week. Pro, Mr. Olympia competitors? 900mg.

Also something to consider, steroid use typically raises libido… if you’re irrationally horny, it’s probably harder to say no to temptation, even if you’ve got a willing partner at home.

There are so many things that "make it harder" to do something in this world. But at the end of the day we're not animals, or perhaps the people I have the most respect for and I think we should be striving to be not animals.

I have a cat who I love, and I hope loves me. But man does he think with his stomach for like 95% of all his actions. That cat would eat non-stop all day if I let him. And because he's a cat, I understand this and I still love him as much as I can love a cat.

I was on high doses of steroids for much of my life because of a health issue. And it's true, at least in my case, that it makes you less risk adverse. I definitely found myself buying extra shit on Amazon. :) But I never cheated on my wife, even when there were clear opportunities (plural), because I greatly valued my marriage, and beyond that I valued myself. I never want to be the guy that betrays someone that I care about.

I think many use anabolic steroids for toxic, dysfunctional personal reasons, and a WS mindset would also be correlated with toxic, dysfunctional attitudes. Perhaps that is what your therapist is getting at: WS's harmful behaviors are because of WS.