Soul’s Code

Bonds: Before and After steroids

‘Tis the season of the famous falling down, drunk — Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Kiefer Sutherland, and last week, (surprise!) Mickey Rourke — all busted for DUI.

But this morning’s headlines stem from a different seed of celebrity addiction: superstar athletes and steroids.

A San Francisco grand jury indicted Barry Bonds, the Giants slugger who broke the most coveted home-run record this summer, for perjury and obstruction of justice because of his attempts to cover-up years of heavy steroid use that powered his hitting surge. The mainstream media calls it “steroid abuse,” we call it addiction.

Steroids are derived from the male sex hormone testosterone, and they boost production of opioids in the brain, as well as bulk up muscle. Guys on steroids are a lot like cocaine addicts: alongside euphoria and amped-up egos, they experience heightened anxiety and irritability, paranoid delusions and impotence.

Steroids really hurt when they’re put in the hands — or the butt — of a clinical narcissist like Bonds.