Could GLP-1 be dulling your joy?

Nothing was wrong per se, but something wasn’t right either, Korrie Stevenson thought.

She’d been struggling with her mood for months without a clear explanation. She didn’t quite feel depressed, but there was a persistent feeling of “meh” causing her to only notice the beauty of a pink- and purple-streaked sky rather than being struck with awe.

“Like you’re trying to be excited about a moment but can’t fully connect to it,” she told The Washington Post.

Even sports, Stevenson’s passion since childhood, had started to feel mundane. She wondered what could have muted her feelings until it finally hit her: Maybe it was a side effect of her GLP-1 medication. 

While not a widespread effect of the drug, Stevenson’s mood experience is no longer an anomaly and physicians are taking note. 

Anhedonia, the clinical term for the persistent “blah” Stevenson felt, called “Ozempic personality” online, is described by those who experience it as a general flattening of everyday pleasure.

Studies over the past couple of decades have found GLP-1 drugs to generally be safe and effective to treat metabolic disease, diabetes and obesity.

But with primary focus falling on their physical effects, more research must be done to understand the  psychological impact of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy.

According to physicians, patients on GLP-1s generally report improved mental health gains, including less shame over eating, better mood and greater self-esteem.

Earlier concerns that the medications might increase risk of suicidal ideation have not held up under further study. In fact, new research suggests that GLP-1s could help treat substance use disorders. 

Still, doctors say they’ve begun hearing accounts like Stevenson’s with enough frequency and consistency to warrant closer scrutiny.

Considering the myriad ways that extreme weight loss can change a person beyond their body – reshaping identity, habits or even how strangers treat them – scientists must take care to distinguish a drug’s direct effects from its secondary consequences. 

For instance, researchers are studying GLP-1’s impact on dopamine. It’s thought that because the medications are known to quiet “food noise,” the constant draw towards eating, they sometimes work to an extreme, dulling other pathways.

“There’s a tendency to think dopamine just drives us to seek pleasure,” said Zak Krumm, who studies GLP-1s in animals at the University of Florida. “But it’s really about how valuable a reward feels.”

Obesity specialist Spencer Nadolsky said that most cases he’s seen resolve when patients reduce their dose, often within weeks. Persistent symptoms are often treated with a lower GLP-1 dose plus bupropion, an antidepressant commonly known by the brand name Wellbutrin.

In the meantime, he and Krumm are compiling roughly 100 case studies to better understand a phenomenon that remains more observed than explained. Balance is the ultimate goal, Nadolsky said. “We want enough dopamine to still enjoy the things we enjoy.”