Author Archives: Rees Southern

Young men in this country are in crisis. An increasing number are disengaged from work, education and society. An increasing number are being radicalised into the far right through social media. And an increasing number are being signed off on mental health grounds.

There are many factors behind these trends. But there is one that is barely discussed in mainstream politics, one that connects all three. It is a drug. It is not illegal to possess. It can cost as little as £3.50 per week, often purchased through apps such as WhatsApp or Telegram, and posted through Royal Mail. It is incredibly accessible and insanely cheap. It is being promoted to boys as young as 12 by influencers with tens of millions of followers. And almost nobody in our politics is talking about it. That drug is anabolic steroids.

The growth in use is being driven by an online philosophy known as the “blackpill”, promoted through TikTok under terms like “looksmaxing”. This is a part of the wider online manosphere. The blackpill claims that physical appearance is the ultimate form of status, that your looks should be your main, or only, priority, and that your appearance is the reason you lack friends, sexual relationships, financial opportunities and a more fulfilled life. It preys on the insecurities of young men and boys. One of the methods it promotes is anabolic steroids: not just to accelerate muscle growth, but on false claims that artificially elevated testosterone levels can reshape your facial structure. Google searches for “looksmax” are up 300% in the UK since 2023, with steroid-related searches up 30% over the same period.

This is not a niche corner of the internet. The hashtag “looksmax” is associated with over 500,000 videos on TikTok. “Tren” (Trenbolone), one of the most potent compounds, first developed in the 1960s to bulk up cattle, is associated with over 10.3 million videos on TikTok. Arguably the most prominent creator in this space, Clavicular (real name Braden Peters, aged 20), has accumulated 27 million likes on TikTok and earns over $110,000 per month from live streaming alone, before revenue from TikTok, YouTube, sponsorships or his paid looksmaxing course. He says he started injecting testosterone at 14. Any teenager who can navigate social media can source anabolic steroids within minutes.