3 Reasons Athletes Turn To Drugs

It seems as if every time that you look at the news you hear of some athlete which has gotten caught taking drugs and getting into trouble with the press because of it. While it can be easy to judge these athletes and have opinions about whether it is moral or not, there are a variety of reasons as to why they turn to drugs. It is important to remember that no one is perfect and that athletes don’t have any easier than normal people.

Some might argue that athletes have it even harder than your average person with a nine to five profession. Before making any assumptions, here are things to consider about athletes and why they turn to drugs.

They Are Performance Enhancing

Many athletes have a desire to take their sports performance to the next level. Although they can’t seem to get to this level through traditional training so they turn to drugs in order to quickly reach this level of performance.

Many times these drugs make them stronger, faster, or more alert. However, it is important to remember that any performance enhancing drug comes at a high price. Athlete’s health can degrade quickly and in some cases even lead to death.

Peer Pressure

As with all drugs they can come with a lot of peer pressure. Many athletes are used to being in an environment where drugs are simply part of the culture. It is so normal in these environments to take drugs which increase their stamina that it becomes expected of them amongst their peers and they, therefore, give in to be a part of the crowd.

As with all peer pressure giving into it is a symptom of a fear of not fitting in or being rejected by their peers. It is important to remember that even if you believe that you would never be susceptible to this kind of pressure, no one knows exactly how they would react to a certain situation unless they are in it.

The Stress

The stress of being a professional athlete can take its toll. When people are spending hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars on you, they expect you to be a top notch performer. Sometimes the pressure of being treated like some kind of show horse starts to take its toll on their emotions and they can seek escape through substances.

When they aren’t playing their sport many of these athletes are often seen going to nightclubs and drinking heavily or doing hard drugs in the privacy of their own homes. Of course, this doesn’t mean every athlete who is stressed will take to alcohol or harder drugs. There are also many athletes that stick to their regime but instead choose to use natural stress relievers such as you’re able to find at Area 52 or a similar online store. CBD or other cannabis products can be used with great success, but unfortunately for some, it still has the stigma attached to recreational marijauna.

Since most people turn to drugs as an escape, it is no surprise that an athlete who is feeling pressure and stress would turn to something to numb the uncomfortable feelings.