So, this is what medicine’s final destination looks like. When life sucks so bad that the majority of the population descends into binges of junk food, alcohol, drugs, gambling, etc the “solution” medicine has is not to encourage people to identify the real problems in their life and work towards meaningful change, but just give them drugs that make people lose interest in their problems such as eating…and in life in general. But that last part is probably considered just an “acceptable” side effect. Yes, as it turns out, the blockbuster GLP-1 drugs are powerful inducers of anhedonia – lack of interest, pleasure or general enjoyment of life. This is not only a core symptom of clinical depression, but is also notoriously hard to treat. Btw, the SSRI drugs are known to exacerbate rather than treat anhedonia, so this little fact right there should be enough to show everybody just how “antidepressant” those drugs really are. But getting back to anhedonia, not only is it very difficult to treat with existing drugs, losing pleasure/joy from life is just one step away from giving up on life and many people attempt suicide after reaching that stage. Now, of course the fact that something causes anhedonia does not directly mean that it causes depression. However, after digging a little deeper, evidence quickly emerges that GLP-1 agonist drugs do, in fact, drastically increase the risk of ANY major psychiatric disorder, including clinical depression, and, of course, suicide. So, this is how medicine “treats” obesity – by causing people to lose interest in eating, and eventually in living. That means so many more psychiatric patients and fewer people overall (due to suicide). Yay, we both met our carbon reduction (i.e. depopulation) goals and GDP is going to the moon! /s
Oh, and for those unfortunate enough to have used or planning to use such drugs. If anhedonia ends up developing, it may be treatable by raising dopamine or using dopaminergic drugs, which once again suggests that anhedonia is nothing but a symptom of serotonin excess, as serotonin is the master inducer of anhedonia.
“…Eli Lilly, the company that makes the blockbuster weight loss treatment Zepbound, will start studying its obesity products as treatments for alcohol and drug abuse, making it the first major drugmaker to do so, CEO David Ricks said Tuesday. Emerging research suggests that GLP-1 drugs — Zepbound is one such treatment — not only reduce food cravings but may also suppress desires for other substances. Yet, so far, no pharma companies have tested the therapies specifically in addiction. “These medicines, we think and we’ve aimed to prove, can be useful for other things we don’t think about connected to weight. These are often called anti-hedonics*, so they are reducing that desire cycle, said Ricks.”
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-75965-2
“…This large community-based cohort study investigates the impact of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs), specifically Liraglutide and Semaglutide, on the risk of developing psychiatric conditions such as depression, anxiety, and suicidal behaviors in patients with obesity. Utilizing post-marketing data, this research compares patients prescribed GLP-1 RAs (cases) with those not taking these medications (controls). The analysis spanned data from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2023. To minimize selection bias, we employed 1:1 propensity score matching to account for demographic factors such as age, sex, race, and comorbidities. After matching, the study included 162,253 case and control patients. This study showed a significant association between GLP-1 RA treatment and an 98% increased risk of any psychiatric disorders. Notably, patients on GLP-1 RAs exhibited a 195% higher risk of major depression, a 108% increased risk for anxiety, and a 106% elevated risk for suicidal behavior. These findings underscore the critical need for physicians to thoroughly assess patient history before prescribing GLP-1 RAs and highlight the urgent requirement for further prospective clinical trials to fully understand the implications of GLP-1 RA use on mental health in the obese patient population.”
Rapid Treatment of Anhedonia With Pramipexole as Adjunct to Buprenorphine in Opioid Use Disorder
“…Depression with significant anhedonia can contribute to the development and complicate the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD).1–3 Pramipexole, a dopamine receptor agonist with high affinity for D3 receptors and with possible additional anti-inflammatory properties, has been shown to be effective in treating anhedonic depression.4–7 We report a case in which pramipexole rapidly improved depression and anhedonia symptoms in a patient on buprenorphine and an antidepressant.”
