Objective: The present study aimed at comparing the prevalence of major
psychiatric disorders including
major depressive disorder,
bipolar disorder,
schizophrenia, and generalized
anxiety disorder between
performance-enhancing drug users and nonuser bodybuilders. Moreover, the prevalence of major
psychiatric disorders in bodybuilders was also reported. Method: In this study, 453 athletes were recruited from Bushehr bodybuilding gyms from February to May 2015. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the participants' information, including demographic characteristics, sports' status and
performance-enhancing drug use. According to the condition of
performance-enhancing drug use, the participants were divided into current users, non-current users, and nonusers. The psychiatric status of the participants was evaluated using DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for
major depressive disorder,
bipolar disorder, generalized
anxiety disorder, and
schizophrenia. We also asked about the acute psychotic disturbances after using
performance-enhancing drugs, alcohol use, and history of aggressive behavior in bodybuilders. Data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance and chi-square tests. Results: Prevalence of
major depressive disorder,
bipolar disorder,
schizophrenia, generalized
anxiety disorder, and the overall prevalence of
psychiatric disorders in the bodybuilders was 19.7%, 3.8%, 1.5%, 16.6%, and 26.7%, respectively. After using
performance-enhancing drugs, 33% of the bodybuilders had experienced acute psychological disturbances. There were no significant differences between current, non-current, and nonuser bodybuilding athletes in the measured
psychiatric disorders. Conclusion: Prevalence of
psychiatric disorders was not significantly different in
performance-enhancing drug users and nonusers. Thus, it can be concluded that
performance-enhancing drugs do not increase the risk of
psychiatric disorders in bodybuilders.