My friend has been on a GLP-1 for two years…
But first the data: One in eight American adults has now taken a GLP-1 — Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, Zepbound — and the share keeps climbing, with one in four households now reporting someone in the home on one.
The pitch is simple: appetite goes down, weight comes off, A1C improves. For a lot of people, that's been life-changing. I'm not here to argue with that. Obesity can be deadly.
But I had a conversation last week that I can't stop thinking about.
A close friend of mine has been on a GLP-1 for two years. He's lost a significant amount of weight. By every visible measure, the drug is doing exactly what it promised.
And then he said something that stopped me cold.
“I've lost my drive. My motivation. The things I used to love - they're just… gone.”
Not just the food cravings. Everything. I was like say whaaaaaaat?
Worth Reading
What is ‘Ozempic personality,’ and why does it make life duller? — The Washington Post on the patients reporting that the spark just went out
‘Ozempic personality’ — when the joy goes flat — The Boston Globe on the emotional flattening showing up in clinics
Curbing the appetites — and restoring the capacity for satisfaction — A 2025 review on how GLP-1s reshape the brain’s reward circuitry, for better and for worse
Once-Weekly Semaglutide in Adults With Alcohol Use Disorder — JAMA Psychiatry, April 2025: the same mechanism that quiets food cravings also quiets the urge to drink
KFF Health Tracking Poll on GLP-1 Use — How many Americans are actually taking these drugs (the answer is: a lot)
What’s Actually Going On in the Brain
GLP-1s were designed to do one thing: turn down the volume on hunger. They mimic a gut hormone that tells the brain, “you’re full, you can stop now.”
The trouble is that the brain doesn’t have a separate volume knob for “food” and “everything else.”
Hunger and desire run on the same rails. The dopamine system. The reward circuitry. The same wiring that makes a chocolate chip cookie feel good is the wiring that makes a phone notification, a glass of wine, a flirty text, or a great song feel good.
When you turn down hunger, you often turn down the rest of it too.
Researchers describe it as reduced reward anticipation — the brain stops leaning forward into things. Cravings go quiet. Compulsions ease up. For people struggling with binge eating, alcohol, or certain addictions, that can feel like freedom.
For others, it can feel like the lights have been dimmed.
A Word You Should Know: Anhedonia
Anhedonia — the inability to feel pleasure or joy from things that used to bring it.
Music that used to move you. A sunset that used to stop you in your tracks. A hobby you couldn’t wait to get home to. Sex. A long conversation with a friend. The first bite of ice cream.
All of it, just… flat.
Patients have started calling it “Ozempic personality.” Doctors are catching up. The pattern shows up in the message boards like reddit before it shows up in the journals, but the science is starting to catch up too.
One researcher put it this way: we need enough dopamine to still enjoy the things we enjoy. Below a certain threshold, the joy doesn’t register.
If you or someone you love is on a GLP-1 and has started to feel… flat… it isn’t laziness. It isn’t a character flaw. It may be the dose - or a side effect.
The Question Nobody’s Asking
This isn’t an anti-GLP-1 newsletter. These drugs have helped people I love. They’ve probably saved lives. The data on cardiovascular outcomes alone is hard to argue with. I’m a proponent of do whatever it takes to lose necessary weight but form life long habits at the same time.
And that led me to think we’re really asking the wrong question.
The question is usually just “will this drug make me thinner?”
Most people think skinnier will solve all their problems, all the negative voices in their head - all the pain will disappear.
But the more important question should be, “does this drug help me flourish?” Will losing weight help me live a happier life? And if you lose all that weight and are miserable - is that a good outcome? I don’t think so.
Because thinness without joy isn’t health. Health without happiness is hell. A smaller waistline and a smaller life is not the trade most of us would knowingly sign up for. And yet, quietly, that’s the trade some people are making.
If you’re on a GLP-1, three things worth doing:
• Notice. How’s your motivation? Your libido? Your interest in things you used to love? Talk to the people closest to you — they’ll often see it before you do.
• Talk to your doctor. Dose matters. Many people get the metabolic benefit at lower doses without the emotional flattening. This is not a “more is better” drug class.
• Protect the inputs that actually generate joy. Sunlight in the morning. Movement. Real food. Sleep. People you love. Did someone say cold plunge? 🙂 The dopamine system still responds to these — even when a drug is potentially dampening it.
Here’s to a flourishing life.
-Jared
P.S. - My wife Baddie Crocker has a beautiful newsletter where she shares her perspectives on tending the land, recipes, women’s health and more.
I’d love to hear your thoughts. 👋
I write this newsletter each week because I feel my best when my body, mind and soul are all healthy. I want the same for you. If you feel like you’ve seen something valuable here, please do me a favor and forward this newsletter to a friend or let me know what you think by replying to this email or texting me - (310) 879-8441
P.S. - This newsletter does not provide medical advice. The content, such as graphics, images, text, and all other materials, is provided for reference and educational purposes only. The content is not meant to be complete or exhaustive or to be applicable to any specific individual's medical condition.
Here are links to things that have helped me improve my health:
Whoop - Track your HRV and REM Sleep
Function Health - Optimize Your Health via 160+ BioMarkers
Here are a few topics I think you’ll love if you haven’t checked them out before:
