Not just weight loss: Wegovy and Ozempic may help halt worsening depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts, study suggests

Weight-loss jabs Wegovy and Ozempic may help protect against worsening depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts, a major analysis suggests.

The drugs – known as GLP-1 receptor agonists – were linked to a significantly lower risk of mental health deterioration in people already struggling with conditions such as depression and anxiety.

GLP-1s are medicines originally developed to treat type 2 diabetes that mimic a natural hormone involved in appetite and blood sugar control, helping people feel fuller for longer and lose weight.

In the new review, published in The Lancet Psychiatry, researchers analysed Swedish medical records from more than 95,000 men and women over a 13-year period, all of whom had experienced depression, anxiety or suicidal thoughts.

Of these, 22,480 had taken GLP-1 drugs for conditions such as diabetes or obesity.

The team found that those taking semaglutide – the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic – were 42 per cent less likely to see their mental health worsen.

The drug was also linked to a 44 per cent lower risk of worsening depression, a 38 per cent lower risk for anxiety, and a 47 per cent reduced risk of worsening substance use disorders.

Patients taking the injections were also less likely to require psychiatric hospital care, took fewer days off work due to illness, and had lower recorded rates of suicide.

Another GLP-1 drug, liraglutide – sold as Saxenda – was also associated with benefits, including an 18 per cent lower risk of mental health deterioration.

However, not all drugs in the class showed the same effect.

The analysis found no clear mental health benefit for exenatide – sold as Bydureon and Byetta – or dulaglutide – also known as Trulicity.

Researchers stressed that the findings do not mean the drugs directly treat mental illness.

Instead, they appear to help reduce the risk of symptoms getting worse in people who are already unwell.

They also cautioned that the study was observational, meaning it cannot prove cause and effect.

The authors wrote that the results ‘do not provide evidence that weight loss directly caused improved mental health’, but said the findings ‘provide a basis for future randomised controlled trials’.

Experts not involved in the study welcomed the results but urged caution.

Professor Eduard Vieta, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Barcelona and chair of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology, said: ‘From a clinical perspective, these findings are reassuring… and suggest a potential role not only in preventing worsening but also, possibly, in improving mental health outcomes.’

However, he added that they ‘should not yet be interpreted as evidence of a direct therapeutic effect on depression or anxiety’.

Professor Ian Maidment, a professor in clinical pharmacy at Aston University, said the findings should now be tested in full clinical trials.

Dr Vincenzo Oliva, a post-doctoral researcher at the August Pi i Sunyer Institute of Biomedical Research in Barcelona, said: ‘These findings fit within a rapidly growing interest in GLP-1 receptor agonists as agents with potential effects beyond metabolism, including in neuropsychiatric domains.

‘This growing interest has been accompanied by both early concerns and high expectations.’

He added: ‘It is important to emphasise that this study focuses on ‘lower risk of worsening’ rather than direct symptom improvement.’