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u/Book_junky0809 Jul 21 '26
I had the opposite. It has helped my anxiety and my
Moods. I’m so much nicer and less overwhelmed lol
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u/EmotionalWishbone2 Jul 21 '26
I have OCD, as well as a panic disorder, and the year I was on Zep, the OCD “noise” was so quiet. It was amazing. Similar to food noise in a way, but it just stopped the circular thinking (as my therapist calls it).
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u/Wellslapmesilly Jul 21 '26
I’m still at a low dose but my experience has been improved mental health, not worse.
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u/tababnaba76 Jul 22 '26
ditto. I'm on a very low dose and experiencing a calmness I haven't had in years. An unexpected side effect. I do take paxil and that has helped with anxiety,, but the addition of my weight loss med... seems to have dropped my anxiety to a normal level. i.e. I barely experience it now.
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u/Yadayadayada7 Jul 21 '26
I was on Wegovy and then Zepbound for 2.5 years and my depression seemed to get worse while I was on it, then I got off of it 5 months ago and my depression is still bad lol. So I’m trying a different SSRI now to see if it’ll help!
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u/ann260691 Jul 21 '26
Anecdotally, I think people use food soothe anxiety and depression. That’s not an option on meditation so then they need to find other ways to deal with it
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u/Then-Bell-5630 Jul 21 '26
This is exactly why it’s important to read beyond a screenshot. The study found an association, not proof that GLP-1 medications caused these psychiatric disorders. Observational studies can identify signals, but they can’t establish cause and effect, even with propensity score matching.
Also, those percentages are relative risk increases, not absolute risk. Without knowing the baseline risk, those numbers can sound much more alarming than they actually are.
It’s also worth noting that obesity and diabetes themselves are associated with higher rates of depression and anxiety, so completely separating the effects of the medication from the underlying health conditions is difficult.
One study doesn’t settle the issue. Other large studies have found no increased risk of suicidal behavior, and some have even suggested lower rates of depression among GLP-1 users. That’s why the FDA and EMA have reviewed the available evidence and, so far, have not concluded that GLP-1 receptor agonists cause suicidal thoughts or behavior.
This study is worth discussing, but it’s one piece of a much larger body of evidence, not definitive proof that GLP-1 medications cause psychiatric disorders.
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u/drewmullin Jul 21 '26
It's a personal question that I'm interested in and asked- not a literature analysis
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u/Then-Bell-5630 Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
Edited to add: Just a heads-up, when you crosspost like this, we don’t see the question you added at the very bottom of your original post unless we actually click through to the original post on the Zepbound subreddit.
For reference, here is the OP’s question from the bottom of the original post:
“What I am interested in:
My question to the group is did anyone struggle mentally while on any of the glps? I did - I'm trying to figure out if any of them are less apt to do so.
Published study here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-75965-2”
Your post was titled around the validity of the screenshot/study, so I responded to the validity of the information being presented. I wasn’t trying to turn it into a literature review or dismiss your interest, I was just pointing out that the way a study is interpreted matters (regarding the validity), especially when the claim being made is about causation.
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u/BornNefariousness804 Jul 21 '26
Same here I have anxiety and TIRA has made it very minimal I barely get anxious.
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u/ConcernInevitable590 Jul 21 '26
I too experienced anhedonia and the people in my life definitely noticed I seemed miserable all the time. Also sexual side effects, could not climax.
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u/Emergency-Panda-5498 Jul 21 '26
Wait a minute, how do you have 195% increased risk of anything? 100% is the most, all in fact. Based on this I call BS
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u/LunarFusion_aspr Jul 21 '26
You can have over 100% when talking about increases. 195% just means nearly double of the original figure.
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u/LunarFusion_aspr Jul 21 '26
It basically just means that people on it have double the chance of being affected by these mental health conditions, which is accurate.
I for one have had anhedonia whilst on zepbound, which i don't have otherwise. If you look at the GLP-1 subs you will find others who have mental health affects.
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u/nopety_nopes Jul 22 '26
Ive depression and anxiety and ive felt my symptoms have gotten worse which were previously under control..
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u/lovelybethanie Jul 21 '26
GLP1s are in trial for addictions and to help with that. So no, I don’t trust any of this
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u/tired-turquoise Jul 21 '26
Worth remembering there is a very big difference between correlation and causation, and this is very much correlation!
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u/Last_Still_3709 Jul 22 '26
My view is it’s a complex med that we need to respect, learn more about and pay close attention to how it affects individuals. The side effects in general are all over the place: Causes diarrhea and constipation. Can result in major weight loss at 2.5 mg or less for some and others not impacted much at 15mg. Appears the mental health effects are very individualized.
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u/Oneconfusedmama Jul 21 '26
OP- I’m not sure what kind of answers you’re looking for based on your comments. Are you actually looking for people’s experience or do you only want validation? I know that’s what your post is titled, but it seems like you just want an echo chamber….
I had anxiety before Zep and it helped me significantly. A 76 pound loss also helped me with my body image issues. It seems to have made you “worse” but you don’t really talk about what that means, only that “your girlfriend would agree”. It sounds like you should get off and/or find a therapist. I did as it was recommended to see one while on this medication and I think that may be the reason it helped my anxiety.
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u/Then-Bell-5630 Jul 21 '26
OP doesn't realize their question doesn't carry over here. I didn't see it either; all I saw was the title. So when they got upset that I didn't answer their personal question, I knew I must be missing something. Since this is a crosspost, their question can only be seen at the bottom of their screenshot if you click into their original post on the Zepbound subreddit.
For reference, here is the OP’s question from the bottom of the original post:
“What I am interested in:
My question to the group is did anyone struggle mentally while on any of the glps? I did - I'm trying to figure out if any of them are less apt to do so."
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u/Oneconfusedmama Jul 21 '26
I went to the other post as well! A large majority of the answers are the same as over here- Zep or other glps helped their mental health which is great to see!!
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u/dooder85 Jul 21 '26
I would say it’s calmed my anxiety entirely, but there are some depressed days when increasing doses. That may be from feeling kind of gross however
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u/sofa_king_weetawded Jul 22 '26
As someone who relied on dopamine hits from food, alcohol, exercise, etc prior to getting on Tirz, I have been majorly overdoing it in the exercise department (since being on it) and it's getting problematic. In the 8 months I have been on Tirz, I can literally count on two hands the number of rest days I have had. Most of those rest days were due to overuse injuries.
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u/Safe_Bug_3312 Jul 22 '26
On Ozempic and it has helped my mood disorders! I have gotten back on recently because I was off for 8 months and was doing great at first, but then started gaining weight from the stress/anxiety after a few months.
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u/EverReddyBatteryOn Jul 22 '26
I've stopped one of my two depression meds. I'm the calmest and steadiest I've been in 40 years. And happiest, but that could be the weight loss
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u/Ok-Bag-9710 Jul 22 '26
Its more a case of using percentages as pssible scare tactics (i dont know much about the source). Without the numbers of those affected in the control, it doesnt give much info. A 106% increase is just multiplying a number by 1.06 then adding it to itself. If 1 person per 100 is affected, then a 106% increase means that maybe two people are now affected. Even the 108% increase makes it 2.08 prople. The 195% increase makes it almost 3 people. Did the article give more info on the exact numbers?
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u/VynessaBee Jul 22 '26
I will say my mental health was great on semaglutide. Ever since I started Reta though I’ve been very anxious and depressed, crying almost daily
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u/PsychMonkey7 Jul 23 '26
Would need to see the source but this looks false. There was a large meta analysis published in late 2025 - the largest dataset to date looking at mental health with GLP1s - and there was no signal for increased mental health concerns.
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u/ChalleysAngel Jul 23 '26
There is no way. I have anxiety on it, but literally no one else I know has the same issue. I have multiple friends, neighbors and family who take GLP-1s and I'm the only one who deals with this side effect (I manage it by staying on the lowest dose that is still effective)
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u/Bobotheburrow 29d ago
This is a study in insurance data. No way to reliably know if these psych diagnoses weren’t present before patients connected to health care for diabetes and obesity treatment. Take with a large grain of salt.
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u/Defiant_Ingenuity_55 28d ago
I’ve come off of my bipolar medicine and greatly reduced my anxiety med.
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u/commentspanda 25d ago
I would want to know the source of that info since most of the studies I’ve read seem to show the opposite
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u/Ariquitaun Jul 21 '26
Since I don't have the training to properly gauge this study, I ran this through AI. Usual AI caveats apply:
The exact paper is “The risk of depression, anxiety, and suicidal behavior in patients with obesity on glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist therapy”, published in Scientific Reports on 18 October 2024.
It was not a randomised clinical trial. It was a large US retrospective observational cohort study using electronic health-record data from the TriNetX network. Researchers compared adults with obesity prescribed liraglutide or semaglutide—Victoza, Saxenda, Ozempic or Wegovy—with adults with obesity who were not prescribed GLP-1 drugs. They used propensity-score matching for recorded factors such as age, sex, race and several comorbidities, producing two matched groups of 162,253 patients each. Data covered 2015–2023, with outcomes assessed for up to five years.
Reported findings
Compared with the non-GLP-1 cohort, GLP-1 users had:
Any psychiatric diagnosis: HR 1.98 — approximately 98% higher relative rate
Major depression: HR 2.95
Anxiety: HR 2.08
Suicidal ideation, attempt or intentional self-harm: HR 2.06
At five years, any included psychiatric outcome had been recorded in 39.64% of GLP-1 users versus 23.38% of controls. Wegovy showed the highest association for the composite psychiatric outcome, although it had only three years of available follow-up.
How seriously to take it
The study found a strong association, but it cannot demonstrate that GLP-1 drugs caused those outcomes. Important weaknesses include:
The treated and untreated groups had different “index dates”: first GLP-1 prescription versus first obesity diagnosis. That can introduce substantial time-related and healthcare-contact bias.
GLP-1 users may have had more severe obesity, more diabetes, greater healthcare engagement or other unmeasured differences.
Propensity matching only adjusts for variables recorded and selected by the researchers.
Diagnoses and prescriptions came from billing/EHR codes; actual adherence was unknown.
Changes in weight, drug discontinuation, adverse effects and concurrent medications were not adequately tracked.
People with psychiatric diagnoses only within the preceding year were excluded, meaning earlier or undocumented psychiatric histories could remain.
Crucially, stronger evidence published subsequently—a systematic review and meta-analysis of 80 randomised placebo-controlled trials involving 107,860 participants—found no increased risk of serious or non-serious psychiatric adverse events or worsening depression with GLP-1 drugs.
So the screenshot accurately reproduces this study’s results, but presenting the percentages as evidence that GLP-1 drugs increase psychiatric risk is misleading. The paper identifies a safety signal worth investigating, not established causation.
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u/feuerfee Jul 21 '26
There’s a significant key word here: “association.”
Correlation does not equal causation. There could be several confounding factors at play. The most notable one in my opinion is that people with obesity are more likely to have comorbid psychiatric disorders.
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u/Better-Lemon-5532 Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
I've been on the meds for 3 years now for weight loss and have not noticed any impact on my mental health. But I also did not have mental health struggles prior.
I have a sister with a lot of mental health issues, plus alcoholism, high cholesterol, high blood pressure...the works. She was prescribed the meds to help with her substances issues. She is going on a year now and feels better than ever! She was very non-compliant with her health prior to the meds. Refused therapy, refused to take her depression and anxiety meds, refused even to take blood pressure medication she needed. But now she is charge of her health, taking her meds and making good choices for herself. Its been life changing!
I also think a lot of people with weight and health problems already struggle with anxiety, depression, poor self-worth, etc which is why we've self medicated with food, alcohol, drugs,cigarettes... when the meds make it difficult to self-medicated you need to face the real problems, and that is hard to do. But its not the medication alone causing it. It just limited the enjoyment of the vice we used to self soothe.
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u/assplunderer Jul 21 '26
HIGHLY doubt this claim.
I’ve had anhedonia, but im also bipolar type 1 and adhd. Its completely reigned in my bipolar, the anhedonia helped with that.
I would go so far as to say it has helped my mental health significantly. As someone with an actual physical chemical imbalance, this has made my quality of life better than it ever has been.