When Robert Sepe brutally murdered his girlfriend with a baseball bat, the media immediately speculated that anabolic steroids caused him to do it. The apparent reasoning was that the crime was so horrific that only an anabolic steroid user with roid rage would be capable of such violence. The “brutality of the crime” coupled with Sepe’s ownership of a supplement company apparently prompted the Journal News to write about a possible link between steroid abuse and murder.
New information suggests that Sepe was strongly against illegal and recreational drug use and likely even anti-steroid. He even abstained from alcohol and coffeee (”Cortlandt slay suspect told cops of ’surreal’ events,” April 29).
In discussing weighlifting, he went into great detail about how various vitamins and supplements could affect the body. He said he hated drugs and never used illegal substances such as cocaine and marijuana. He didn’t even drink coffee or alcohol, or eat meat, though he had once tried venison, he told them.
But he did admit to using prescription drugs Elavil and Zoloft to treat psychopathology and an undisclosed blood pressure medication.
During a five hour standoff, he started out by lying about his identify and eventually opened up and talked about some serious problems he said he was having. He told police he had been suffering from panic attacks, depression and insomnia in recent months, and that he was taking two psychotropic medications, Elavil and Zoloft, along with medicine to control high blood pressure; he mentioned he had one pill in his pocket. He claimed the various drugs were “contradicting each other” and that his psychologists and internists “didn’t know what each other was prescribing.”
Zoloft and roid rage? It doesn’t quite have the same sensationalistic impact as steroid roid rage; it is kind like prednisone roid rage. Yet there are various websites demonizing Zoloft suggesting it can cause normal invidividuals to turn into “homicidal maniacs“!
It seems that there is a natural tendency to ascribe a single cause for senseless events like suicide and murder. Anabolic steroids are the demon of choice in such events irrespective of the actual potential causes of such behavior. But if the media wants to blame steroids for the violent crime of Robert Sepe, the actual use of anabolic steroids by the perpetrator is a prerequisite for this unsubstantiated claim. This is unfortunate for the anti-steroid crusaders seeking to capitalize on the current trend of steroid hysteria in the media and popular culture.
House, M.D., the medical television drama, discussed “roid rage” as a side effect of steroids last night in an episode entitled “No More Mr. Nice Guy.” The House medical team attributed the “roid rage” to the catabolic steroid prednisone. “Roid rage” is not a medical term, but a term arising from popular culture.
Even though aggression in anabolic steroids users is rare, the producers of House decided to promote an even less plausible case of “roid rage” (arising from prednisone use). Then again, the whole point of the television show is to explore rare medical cases and consequently rare side effects. So, perhaps the reference to roid rage was consistent with the goals of the show rather than a capitulation to the current pop culture fascination with anabolic steroids and roid rage and related undocumented or overstated side effects of steroids?
Eleven members of the Greek Olympic Weightlifting Team tested positive for three banned substances. These have been identified as methyltrienolone (an anabolic steroid), buprenorphine (an opioid antagonist), and an anti-estrogen compound. There has been some speculation as to why, if the Greek athletes intentionally doped, would they use an opioid drug commonly used to overcome heroin and oxycodone addiction?
The managing editor of HellenicAthletes.com suspects that buprenorphine was used to counteract the highly addictive effects of the anabolic steroid methyltrienolone.
The second substance is reported to be an opiate, used to purge the body of the drug-addiction tendencies of methyltrienolone.
Professor Demetrios Kouretas of the University of Thessaly believes buprenorphine was used to counteract the extreme aggressiveness caused by methyltrienolone.
The biochemistry professor suggests that the combination of substances was designed to “improve the athlete’s psychological disposition because the anabolic steroid triggers extreme aggressiveness”.
Because of the brutality of the crime and the fact that Sepe’s company sells supplements such as Advanced Steroidal Complex, and Anabolic Muscle, observers have wondered whether steroid abuse was a factor.
The media is trying too hard to demonize anabolic steroids nowadays. Even in the absence of evidence of steroid use, the desire for a “roid rage” explanation has begun. The suggestion that the brutality of a crime likely resulted from steroid use is a reflection of the level of steroid hysteria in our society.
Actor Vince Vaughn was a guest on David Letterman last month. Letterman located a 1990 anti-steroid CBS Schoolbreak Special called “The Fourth Man” featuring Vince Vaughn and Peter Billingsley. Vaughn confronts a juiced-up Billingsley about his steroid use and almost gets his ass kicked (”Vince Vaughn fights roid-raging Ralphie,” February 8)!
Oh, and the link between steroids and Hershey’s Syrup? Peter Billingsley played “Messy Marvin” as a child actor in the classic Hershey’s syrup commercials. Excessive Hershey’s Syrup consumption as a child could lead to anabolic steroid use as an adult according to this newly discovered anecdotal evidence. Watch the video clip of innocent Messy Marvin and then the murderous and violent steroid-enhanced Messy Marvin.
