New Obesity Drugs May Impact Mental Health
In mid to late 2023 there was a flurry of news reports about patients taking new weight loss drugs reporting associated mental health concerns, including suicidal thoughts. There’s still a lot of research to be done to fully understand these drugs and their effects, but we take a close look at the research in the article to figure out just what scientists know about GLP-1 drugs and mental health.
Related HCT episodes:
GLP-1 Obesity Drugs Are the Real Deal: https://youtu.be/K5QoSkmPCEQ
Be sure to check out our podcast!
Other Healthcare Triage Links:
1. Support the channel on Patreon: http://vid.io/xqXr
2. Check out our Facebook page: http://goo.gl/LnOq5z
3. We still have merchandise available at http://www.hctmerch.com
4. Aaron’s book “The Bad Food Bible: How and Why to Eat Sinfully” is available wherever books are sold, such as Amazon: http://amzn.to/2hGvhKw
Credits:
Aaron Carroll — Writer
Tiffany Doherty — Writer and Script Editor
John Green — Executive Producer
Stan Muller — Director, Producer
Mark Olsen – Creative Director, Producer
30 Comments
I wonder if there's a confounding factor here….
I have taken Mounjaro and semaglutide. I do think they have a positive effect on my emotional state. For what it’s worth.
People who have problem with loosing weight are more prone to mental health struggles and that's why it looked like there is causation
Whenever the pharmaceutical industry provides you with a "solution" that is quick and requires little sacrifice, when there are lifestyle options that can address the issue but requires sacrifice, choose the latter. If history is any guide, the "solution" in a pill, if history is any guide, will eventually cause more problems than it solves.
when i took a Semaglutide drug, my general anxiety went way down in .
Lebanon? Can they afford these drugs?
just get regular exercise lmao
I’ve heard that these drugs also affect addictive behaviors (lessening cravings), for things like alcohol and drugs but also harmless things like biting fingernails. Is there any truth to this in the literature?
I already have issues finding food I like to eat and I’m celiac (not diabetic), I’m waiting for this to be prescribed to me just because I’m fat. The methodology for all of these studies are often bogus because they assume fatness is pathological, not natural body diversity.
If these studies remain accurate then these drugs are about to be even more in demand
I took Ozempic for two months and a half, but couldn't afford it anymore, specially the higher dosages, and I say this as someone that tried more than a dozen antidepressants in the past with no success, Ozempic was by far the best antidepressive I have ever taken.
$10 on "new medicine placebo" and that the existing treatments are more likely to cause anxiety on their own.
Sorry, big pharma reach so big, i don't even trust this channel when it comes to drug studies. Who's doing the studies? The companies trying to sell the drugs.
You have to wonder if some of the effects on anxiety and depression are related to the weight loss experienced by these people and how that makes them feel about themselves. If a person's weight contributes to their depression and or anxiety then loosing that weight combined with a lifestyle changes might be a contributing factor. I say this as a person with anxiety and who is on an SSRI and has suffered from depression.
My concern for studies about a potential relationship is that there's almost certainly a correlation between weight loss (desired result) and improvements in at least some mental health metrics. We live in a fatphobic society with fatphobic media, so weight loss can reduce some external stressors on top of any internal impacts to self-image…which aren't unrelated to the aforementioned society and media. Trying to adequately account for that seems like a significant – in the practical sense if not also statistically – challenge.
Maybe the fat people feel better mentally because the med they are taking is showing them tangible results.
I'm currently taking Ozempic 2.5mg and Contrave (Bupropion 300mg + Neltrexone 50mg) and its certainly helped. My mental health has never been better; the higher self-esteem from losing 75lbs doesn't hurt either lol. Personally, and not a Doctor here (so talk to yours if you're reading this), I think the two combined should be whats prescribed. The only downside for me, was onramping to the full contrave dose was mood-swing central, but it normalizes after a while.
Ah! You’re back!
You guys work hard to make these videos as factually accurate as possible, yet the result is so unsatisfying.
Even though you've summarized several papers, the resulting conclusion is just "it's too early, we don't know".
This sort of science education is necessary and useful on a rational level, but SOOO unsatisfying emotionally.
We need clear "A causes B" type messaging, otherwise it doesn't stick and it gets lost in the noise.
Please keep up the great work on this channel, my complaints notwithstanding. 🙂
These drugs like all drugs affect every individual differently.
Only a licensed physician can treat disease with prescription drugs. These studies are only that.
Thank you so much for using the correct name semaglutide and not the clickbaity Ozempic.
My anxiety and depression got better while taking it!
What of Topiramate?
Actually losing weight doesnt create mental health issues.
What is this guy trying to peddle?
The demonstrably overweight people are commiting suicide anyway, its called heart disease and diabetes.
Unironically fake news.
As a psychiatry resident I recently met a patient with bipolar disorder who had received Ozempic as a mood stabilizer from a different clinic and appeared to be feeling more stable with fewer and less severe depressive dips while on the drug. I had never heard of this and was a bit skeptical but It'll be very interesting to see if this indeed is a true effect of the drug with future studies.
sem-Ah-glutide
leer-Ah-glutide
I totally agree. Pre diabetic. I was on mounjaro for 4-5 months then insurance said I didn’t qualify. I’ve been pre for over 20 years. My A1C jumped up and I asked about something to help and help with weight. My endocrinologist recommend this. I’ve had been trying to lose for 5 years (after pregnancy)and couldn’t do it even though in the past I could. Since I know my weight is the biggest factor. My depression and anxiety went away, cholesterol down and A1C was the the lowest it ever was. I had other health issues go away or almost go away also. It wasn’t because I felt better about myself because I did lose weight but instead the constant obsession of food was gone. I didn’t realize how much food was in my thought before because it had been my whole life. I have fought to keep weight down and not be diabetic like everyone else in my family. Food addiction is real and I dare say anyone obese has a food addiction. I’m currently fighting the insurance about coverage. 2 of my doctors agree I should be on it for things listed above plus others. They don’t want us health they want us sick so we stay on medication. I could take mounjaro, but instead they want me to take 4 other medication that mounjaro can do alone.
I took it for 6 weeks and was on my way to intestinal paralysis. I stopped taking it 10 months ago and the constipation never went away. These drugs are being touted as the “end all be all” without proper attention to side effects!
Also, losing weight in other healthy ways also helps mental health because of the stigma in society.
"Say no to drugs" has turned into "take as many as you can, and think of disorders to take them"
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
I can't wait for the mass lawsuit commercials that'll com in a couple of years.
I tried 3 different GLP-1s – Zepbound, Wegovy, and Saxenda – over a three-year time period. My mental health quickly deteriorated each time. I've never experienced depression until about two weeks after my first injection. I was never able to titrate up on any of the meds I tried. My mental health returned to normal about 3 weeks after stopping the injections.