Index IntroductionBodyConclusionWorks CitedIntroductionPerformance-enhancing drugs have existed in sports for centuries, which has inevitably resulted in positive and negative impacts on athletes' health and sports. Sport has been directly linked to the use of performance-enhancing agents since the original Olympic Games in Greece, a spectacle that took place between the years 776 and 393 BC. It is widely speculated that "The origin of the word 'doping' is attributed to the Dutch word 'doop,' which is a viscous juice of opium, the drug of choice of the ancient Greeks." (Bowers, 1998). Performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) have become a public concern since being banned in most sports, but have continued to be predominantly used, resulting in both positive and negative impacts on sports, physical health, and psychological well-being. Performance enhancing drugs or PEDs are dangerous to the health of those who use them and should be banned in all levels of sport. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayBodyPerformance-enhancing substances have been used in sports to improve an athlete's strength and speed, which increases his overall performance but as a result has led to an unfair advantage behavior for users, damage to classical values of sport and negative influences on young athletes. As elite athletes use performance-enhancing drugs, the entertainment factor of watching live sporting events would increase, as it would lead to athletes unlocking a new level of potential. There are also cases where athletes' failure to use performance-enhancing drugs could mean they refrain from competing seriously. An extremely competitive sport like professional bodybuilding requires constant muscle growth from athletes. An athlete participating in professional bodybuilding has almost no choice but to resort to performance-enhancing substances if he wishes to participate competitively. It has been stated that "Many involved in bodybuilding competitions believe they cannot compete without the use of steroids to reach what they describe as their potential" (Redwood, 1995). Therefore, in this case, doping drugs may be perceived as necessary. Allowing elite athletes to use performance-enhancing drugs would greatly increase entertainment at live sporting events, especially in sports such as rugby, basketball, boxing and football. Fost (2005) suggests that the concept that performance-enhancing drugs provide an unfair advantage has no coherent evidence or argument to support it. He also states: “What is more right: the use of a team of sports specialists or a simple pill? What is the difference between training at altitude and taking erythropoietin to achieve a similar effect?” (Fost, 2005). Legalizing PEDs in sports would increase the entertainment factor. However, the use of PEDs in sport would cause sport to lose its spirit of fairness and become a competition for access to the best substances, as well as providing negative role models for children and adolescents. For centuries the spirit of sport has evolved around “ethics, fairness and honesty” (WADA, 2003) and the legalization of steroid use would eradicate these values ​​in sport. Since its introduction into elite sport, PEDs have been used not to ensure fairness to the user, but to provide a physically unfair advantage with the hope that their use by the athlete would be unknown."(Pound, 2008). The exposure of its unjust nature was first recognized when “the International Athletics Federation (IAAF) became the first organization ever to prohibit the use of performance-enhancing drugs” (Mottram, 2010). The ban imposed first by the IAAF and then by other organizations was to ensure that the sport remained a challenge of talent and skill, along with tests of the athlete's dedication and character. If organizations decide to legalize the use of performance-enhancing drugs, "sporting events would increasingly become tests of rivals' access to good pharmaceutical technology" (Dixon, 2008) rather than of skill or ability in sport. If the use of performance-enhancing drugs became more widespread in sports leagues, fans and spectators of professional sports would perceive the role of skills replaced by the substances and therefore lose interest in the sport, financially damaging sports leagues and competitions. -(Dixon, 2008). It is widely known that young athletes emulate elite professionals. Therefore, steroid use by professional athletes will cause young athletes to assume that PEDs are normal and part of the process of becoming an elite athlete. -(Schwab, 2002). To preserve the classic values ​​of sport and ensure that young athletes do not perceive drug use as normal behavior, the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport must be banned and condemned as a serious crime. Doping substances provide physical benefits to those who use them but also introduce risks to physical well-being (Navidinia and Ebadi, 2017). Athletes use PED to take advantage of its exercise capacity-enhancing effect, allowing athletes to endure excessive amounts of resistance training and cardiovascular exercise resulting in increased lung capacity, overall strength, muscle mass, and density. Athletes also use the effects of performance-enhancing substances to counteract injuries and speed up the injury healing process (Mayo Clinic, 2019). In 2004, a group of anonymous scientists selected 12 websites and published an anonymous survey aimed at PED users. The survey results showed that over 75% of the survey participants were non-professional athletes” (Evans and Parkinson, 2006). This indicates that the main purpose of steroid use is aesthetic benefit. Most people who exercise regularly for extended periods of time struggle to achieve the body aesthetic they desire due to genetic disadvantages. Research has shown that muscles require a minimum of 24 hours of resting recovery time for the muscle to recover to full health - (White, 2019). Performance-enhancing drugs allow athletes to shorten this "recovery time" and begin the next training regimen almost immediately, which means it will allow professional and amateur athletes to achieve the desired athletic performance or body in a span of shorter time. This would allow time to focus on other important aspects of life such as the progress of their studies or their respected career ambitions. However, although the (chemicals) contained in PED cause changes in the body such as faster recovery from exercise in muscle cells, further effects of these substances indicate a large amount of short-term and permanent, irreversible long-term side effects and impacts term about physical health. The anonymous survey also revealed that “99.2% or 496/500 participants reported subjective side effects” and “70% (355/500) experienced at least three ormore of these complications" (Evans and Parkinson, 2006). Research has clearly shown that steroid use introduces a high probability of experiencing at least one immediate negative side effect and a very high amount of short-term health effects. Short-term physical impacts on men involve changes in glucose concentrations, sex hormones, liver enzymes” (Navidinia and Ebadi, 2017), as well as reduced sperm count, impotence and shrinkage of the testicles in men. As for women, menstrual disorders and the development of masculine characteristics commonly occur after short-term use of performance-enhancing substances, both men and women are susceptible to liver toxicity and liver cancer- (Iliades, 2009). The range of negative health impacts is alarming. The most troublesome effects are not limited to blood clots, fluid retention, high blood pressure, swelling, tremor, reduction of sexual function in both men and women and infertility. In addition to these, long-term use of performance-enhancing drugs can cause baldness, gynecomastia, prostate cancer and cardiovascular disease.- (NIDA,2018). Therefore, of all the possible repercussions related to the use of performance-enhancing drugs, it is very clear that the negative impacts far outweigh the positive changes that PEDs bring to the human body. It is therefore definitely in the interests of the physical health of professional athletes competing at the highest levels as well as amateur athletes to ban the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport and strongly condemn their use. Athletes who use performance-enhancing drugs feel more self-confident, and have a higher self-perception and personal value than non-users, but they also run the risk of becoming victims of several psychological health disorders. An athlete's perceived levels of self-confidence and self-esteem increase during the use of performance-enhancing drugs (Vassallo and Olrich, 2011) and experiences an amplification of positive emotions during the PED cycle. The use of performance-enhancing drugs increases a person's energy and motivation levels, self-esteem, and social confidence (CISUR, 2015). It may be helpful for an athlete who has reached a decline in performance, or for an everyday individual participating in a recreational sport, to use the positive mental effects of performance-enhancing drugs to recover from low self-esteem or lack of social or social confidence. athletics. . Although performance-enhancing substances stimulate positive emotions and psychological functions, research has indicated that performance-enhancing drugs are strongly linked to mental disorders. The use of performance-enhancing drugs leads to a high risk of post-use anxiety and depression, which can lead to engaging in various illicit substances or harmful behaviors. The two most common psychological disorders that PED users suffer from are depression and anxiety, which are experienced in different ways depending on the user. Athletes have various concerns regarding the use of performance-enhancing drugs, the most notable reason being concern about physical appearance, followed by concern about work performance or athletic performance. – (Murray et al., 2016) physical appearance is the main reason and influence for PED use among athletes. “AAS users who experience issues related to physical appearance also experience high rates of comorbid psychological dysfunction, eating disorders, and muscle dysmorphia.” – (Murray et al., 2016) both mental disorders. Users of doping substances have, 54(3), 215-226.