What Are the Mental Health Effects of GLP-1 Drugs?
At first, Meghan Dressler wasn’t interested in taking a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist, the class of popular diabetes and weight-loss medications that includes Ozempic and Wegovy. The New York City–based lawyer had spent much of her life cycling through restrictive diets like Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers, only to put the pounds back on every time. Why would an expensive injectable medication lacking long-term data work any better?
But in early 2024 at age 41, Dressler’s joints hurt. Her sleep suffered. Her community theater performances left her zapped. So her doctor prescribed Zepbound, a cousin of the original GLP-1s. Within a year, Dressler lost 70 pounds. Unlike the commercial diets, she said, “I have every intention of sticking with it.”
Dressler is among the 12% of U.S. adults who have used a GLP-1, according to a 2024 KFF poll. Four in 10 of them had taken the jabs (most GLP-1s are delivered via injection) primarily to lose weight. Mental health professionals are taking note. Researchers are tracking the drugs’ positive and negative effects on mood as well as their potential to quell some disordered eating symptoms while exacerbating others. Some psychologists are studying how the medications’ mechanisms might also advance treatments for drug, alcohol, and behavioral addictions.
Excerpted from American Psychological Association
