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GLP-1 Receptor Agonists and Related Mental Health Issues; Insights from a Range of Social Media Platforms Using a Mixed-Methods Approach

Davide Arillotta Orcid Logo, Giuseppe Floresta Orcid Logo, Amira Guirguis Orcid Logo, John Martin Corkery Orcid Logo, Valeria Catalani Orcid Logo, Giovanni Martinotti Orcid Logo, Stefano L. Sensi, Fabrizio Schifano

Brain Sciences, Volume: 13, Issue: 11, Start page: 1503

Swansea University Author: Amira Guirguis Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.3390/brainsci13111503

Abstract

The emergence of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs; semaglutide and others) now promises effective, non-invasive treatment of obesity for individuals with and without diabetes. Social media platforms’ users started promoting semaglutide/Ozempic as a weight-loss treatment, and the...

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Published in: Brain Sciences
ISSN: 2076-3425
Published: MDPI AG 2023
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64794
first_indexed 2023-10-23T08:07:25Z
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spelling 2023-11-24T13:23:40.5637207 v2 64794 2023-10-23 GLP-1 Receptor Agonists and Related Mental Health Issues; Insights from a Range of Social Media Platforms Using a Mixed-Methods Approach b49270b9a0d580cf4f31f9a1b6c93f87 0000-0001-8255-0660 Amira Guirguis Amira Guirguis true false 2023-10-23 MEDS The emergence of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs; semaglutide and others) now promises effective, non-invasive treatment of obesity for individuals with and without diabetes. Social media platforms’ users started promoting semaglutide/Ozempic as a weight-loss treatment, and the associated increase in demand has contributed to an ongoing worldwide shortage of the drug associated with levels of non-prescribed semaglutide intake. Furthermore, recent reports emphasized some GLP-1 RA-associated risks of triggering depression and suicidal thoughts. Consistent with the above, we aimed to assess the possible impact of GLP-1 RAs on mental health as being perceived and discussed in popular open platforms with the help of a mixed-methods approach. Reddit posts yielded 12,136 comments, YouTube videos 14,515, and TikTok videos 17,059, respectively. Out of these posts/entries, most represented matches related to sleep-related issues, including insomnia (n = 620 matches); anxiety (n = 353); depression (n = 204); and mental health issues in general (n = 165). After the initiation of GLP-1 RAs, losing weight was associated with either a marked improvement or, in some cases, a deterioration, in mood; increase/decrease in anxiety/insomnia; and better control of a range of addictive behaviors. The challenges of accessing these medications were a hot topic as well. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study documenting if and how GLP-1 RAs are perceived as affecting mood, mental health, and behaviors. Establishing a clear cause-and-effect link between metabolic diseases, depression and medications is difficult because of their possible reciprocal relationship, shared underlying mechanisms and individual differences. Further research is needed to better understand the safety profile of these molecules and their putative impact on behavioral and non-behavioral addictions. Journal Article Brain Sciences 13 11 1503 MDPI AG 2076-3425 GLP-1 receptor agonists, semaglutide, mental health, depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, food cravings, social media, netnography 24 10 2023 2023-10-24 10.3390/brainsci13111503 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/brainsci13111503 COLLEGE NANME Medical School COLLEGE CODE MEDS Swansea University The study was carried out with the internal support of the University of Hertfordshire (GL11101336—Centre Clinical and Health Services QR). 2023-11-24T13:23:40.5637207 2023-10-23T08:58:40.5084135 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences Swansea University Medical School - Pharmacy Davide Arillotta 0000-0002-8843-0595 1 Giuseppe Floresta 0000-0002-0668-1260 2 Amira Guirguis 0000-0001-8255-0660 3 John Martin Corkery 0000-0002-3849-817x 4 Valeria Catalani 0000-0001-6338-8653 5 Giovanni Martinotti 0000-0002-7292-2341 6 Stefano L. Sensi 7 Fabrizio Schifano 8 64794__29104__dbef9a63ea6e4590b6cb3deeaa0ec0c1.pdf 64794.VOR.pdf 2023-11-24T12:38:11.1078722 Output 554374 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title GLP-1 Receptor Agonists and Related Mental Health Issues; Insights from a Range of Social Media Platforms Using a Mixed-Methods Approach
spellingShingle GLP-1 Receptor Agonists and Related Mental Health Issues; Insights from a Range of Social Media Platforms Using a Mixed-Methods Approach
Amira Guirguis
title_short GLP-1 Receptor Agonists and Related Mental Health Issues; Insights from a Range of Social Media Platforms Using a Mixed-Methods Approach
title_full GLP-1 Receptor Agonists and Related Mental Health Issues; Insights from a Range of Social Media Platforms Using a Mixed-Methods Approach
title_fullStr GLP-1 Receptor Agonists and Related Mental Health Issues; Insights from a Range of Social Media Platforms Using a Mixed-Methods Approach
title_full_unstemmed GLP-1 Receptor Agonists and Related Mental Health Issues; Insights from a Range of Social Media Platforms Using a Mixed-Methods Approach
title_sort GLP-1 Receptor Agonists and Related Mental Health Issues; Insights from a Range of Social Media Platforms Using a Mixed-Methods Approach
author_id_str_mv b49270b9a0d580cf4f31f9a1b6c93f87
author_id_fullname_str_mv b49270b9a0d580cf4f31f9a1b6c93f87_***_Amira Guirguis
author Amira Guirguis
author2 Davide Arillotta
Giuseppe Floresta
Amira Guirguis
John Martin Corkery
Valeria Catalani
Giovanni Martinotti
Stefano L. Sensi
Fabrizio Schifano
format Journal article
container_title Brain Sciences
container_volume 13
container_issue 11
container_start_page 1503
publishDate 2023
institution Swansea University
issn 2076-3425
doi_str_mv 10.3390/brainsci13111503
publisher MDPI AG
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str Swansea University Medical School - Pharmacy{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}Swansea University Medical School - Pharmacy
url http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/brainsci13111503
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description The emergence of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs; semaglutide and others) now promises effective, non-invasive treatment of obesity for individuals with and without diabetes. Social media platforms’ users started promoting semaglutide/Ozempic as a weight-loss treatment, and the associated increase in demand has contributed to an ongoing worldwide shortage of the drug associated with levels of non-prescribed semaglutide intake. Furthermore, recent reports emphasized some GLP-1 RA-associated risks of triggering depression and suicidal thoughts. Consistent with the above, we aimed to assess the possible impact of GLP-1 RAs on mental health as being perceived and discussed in popular open platforms with the help of a mixed-methods approach. Reddit posts yielded 12,136 comments, YouTube videos 14,515, and TikTok videos 17,059, respectively. Out of these posts/entries, most represented matches related to sleep-related issues, including insomnia (n = 620 matches); anxiety (n = 353); depression (n = 204); and mental health issues in general (n = 165). After the initiation of GLP-1 RAs, losing weight was associated with either a marked improvement or, in some cases, a deterioration, in mood; increase/decrease in anxiety/insomnia; and better control of a range of addictive behaviors. The challenges of accessing these medications were a hot topic as well. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study documenting if and how GLP-1 RAs are perceived as affecting mood, mental health, and behaviors. Establishing a clear cause-and-effect link between metabolic diseases, depression and medications is difficult because of their possible reciprocal relationship, shared underlying mechanisms and individual differences. Further research is needed to better understand the safety profile of these molecules and their putative impact on behavioral and non-behavioral addictions.
published_date 2023-10-24T14:28:35Z
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