Can Ozempic and Similar Drugs Help With Depression and Anxiety?
A large Swedish study of adults with depression or anxiety who were taking antidiabetic medication found that semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, was linked to a 42 percent lower risk of worsening mental illness.
What the Data Show
Researchers identified 95,490 people in Sweden with a diagnosis of depression or anxiety disorder who used any antidiabetic medication between 2009 and 2022. Of those, 22,480 used a GLP-1 receptor agonist at some point during follow-up. Using a within-individual design, each person served as their own control. This means the study compared mental health outcomes during periods when a person was on the medication versus periods when they were not.
Semaglutide had the strongest results. People taking it had a 44 percent reduction in worsening depression and a 38 percent reduction in worsening anxiety. Semaglutide was also linked to a 47 percent lower risk of worsening substance use disorder. Liraglutide, an older GLP-1 drug, was associated with an 18 percent lower risk of worsening mental illness overall and a 26 percent lower risk of worsening depression, but it was not associated with reduced worsening of anxiety or substance use disorder. Exenatide and dulaglutide showed no association with the composite outcome. Taken as a group, the GLP-1 receptor agonists were associated with a 44 percent lower risk of self-harm.
Dr. Kumar’s Take
I find this study’s design persuasive. When each person acts as their own control, you remove a large number of confounding factors like genetics, personality, and stable baseline health that cloud other types of research. The reduction in worsening mental illness with semaglutide is not a small number, and it held up separately for depression, anxiety, and substance use disorder.
That said, this is not a randomized controlled trial. I cannot say for certain that GLP-1 drugs directly caused these improvements. Weight loss, better blood sugar control, and reduced inflammation could all play a role. The pattern also differed by drug, with semaglutide showing the broadest benefit and exenatide and dulaglutide showing none, which argues against treating the whole class as interchangeable. The authors themselves call for randomized trials, and I expect those are coming.
How the Study Was Designed
This was a national cohort study using Swedish health registries. Inclusion required a prior diagnosis of depression or anxiety disorder plus use of any antidiabetic medication between 2009 and 2022. GLP-1 receptor agonists were compared with non-use of GLP-1 receptor agonists, and directly with other second-line antidiabetic medications. The primary outcome was a composite of psychiatric hospitalisation, sick leave from work for more than 14 days for psychiatric reasons, hospitalisation for self-harm, or death by suicide. The within-individual approach compared each person’s outcomes during treated and untreated periods, which the authors used to reduce confounding. A person with related lived experience was involved in the design and write-up of the study.
Why This Matters for Mental Health Treatment
Depression and anxiety are among the most common health conditions worldwide, and many patients do not respond well to existing treatments. The idea that a medication already approved and widely prescribed for other conditions could also stabilize mental health is worth taking seriously. It opens the door to dual-benefit prescribing, where a single drug addresses both metabolic and psychiatric needs. The authors frame semaglutide and, to a lesser extent, liraglutide as potentially dually effective options for anxiety and depression that co-occur with diabetes and obesity.
Practical Takeaways
- If you are taking a GLP-1 medication like Ozempic or Wegovy and also managing depression or anxiety, talk to your doctor about monitoring your mental health.
- Do not start or switch to a GLP-1 drug solely for mental health benefits. These medications are currently approved only for diabetes and weight management, and the authors call for randomized trials before conclusions are drawn.
- The findings were specific to semaglutide and, more narrowly, liraglutide. Exenatide and dulaglutide showed no association with the composite mental illness outcome, so do not assume the whole class behaves the same way.
Related Studies and Research
You might also find these related articles helpful:
- Sea swimming as a novel intervention for depression and anxiety explores how cold water exposure may help mood disorders through different pathways.
- Over-the-counter products for depression, anxiety, and insomnia in older adults reviews non-prescription options for common mental health conditions.
- Sugary drinks linked to 34% higher anxiety risk in teens highlights the connection between diet and mental health.
- Teen cannabis use linked to higher risk of psychotic and mood disorders examines substance-related psychiatric risk factors in young people.
FAQs
How do GLP-1 receptor agonists work in the brain?
GLP-1 receptors are found not only in the gut and pancreas but also in brain regions involved in mood, reward, and stress responses. This study did not test mechanism. It measured whether people diagnosed with depression or anxiety fared better during periods on these medications than during periods off them, and for semaglutide the answer was yes across depression, anxiety, and substance use disorder. Why that happens remains an open question.
Does weight loss from these drugs explain the mental health benefits?
I cannot rule it out from this study. Weight loss can improve mood, and so can better glycemic control. The within-individual design removes confounders that stay fixed within a person, such as genetics and personality, but it does not separate a drug’s direct effects on the brain from the downstream effects of losing weight. That separation is one reason the authors argue randomized trials are needed.
Are GLP-1 drugs likely to be prescribed specifically for depression in the future?
It is too early to say. The authors of this study explicitly call for randomized controlled trials to evaluate these findings. Before any drug can be prescribed for a new condition, it has to go through trials designed for that purpose, and observational register data, however large, does not substitute for that. This study makes the case that such trials are worth running.
Bottom Line
This Swedish national cohort study of 95,490 people with depression or anxiety who were using antidiabetic medication found that semaglutide was associated with a 42 percent lower risk of worsening mental illness. Semaglutide also showed lower risk of worsening depression, anxiety, and substance use disorder, while liraglutide showed a benefit for worsening depression and for the composite outcome only. Exenatide and dulaglutide showed no association. The within-individual design adds credibility, but these drugs are not approved for mental health treatment and the authors call for randomized trials to confirm what the registry data suggest.
