Do Weight Loss Drugs Affect Mental Health?
In late 2017, the FDA approved the first and best-known GLP-1 receptor agonist, which you’ll probably know as “Ozempic.” At first it was only recognized as appropriate to treat Type 2 diabetes, but just over four years later, a 2 mg dose of the same drug received FDA approval for weight management. These medications then surged in popularity—according to a health tracking poll by KFF, as of May 2024 as many as 1 out of every 8 American adults had taken a GLP-1 drug. But by fall 2023, the system through which physicians notify the FDA of “adverse events” had already accumulated almost 500 reports of possible mental health side effects attributed to GLP-1 drugs. Anxiety, depression, and even suicidalideation in patients had been reported by doctors across the country. NPR reported in September 2024 that in 96 of these adverse events, the patients in question had experienced suicidal thoughts; five of these patients died.
To be clear, the FDA’s database is not designed for cause-and-effect reasoning, so it’s not possible to assign full responsibility for these serious psychological conditions to GLP-1 drugs. But a simultaneous groundswell on social media seemed focused on the same phenomena, as a 2023 study by the National Institute of Health documented (Arillotta et al., 2023). Data were collected from several social media websites, including TikTok, YouTube, and Reddit, and the resulting information was broken down via the use of an AI spreadsheet analysis platform called Numerous. Most social media comments pertaining to GLP-1 receptor agonists and psychological symptoms focused on “sleep-related issues, including insomnia,” but also called out “anxiety…depression…and mental health issues in general.”
Excerpted from Psychology Today
