[bluescrn]

Being severely obese can make you feel suicidal. Many users of these drugs will likely be familiar with those thoughts before they start.

And a measurable drop in weight may be give them more hope than any antidepressants could do.

(Antidepressants can be like taking painkillers for toothache if there's an obvious physical cause of the depression. They may offer some relief, but the real problem remains, and may be getting worse, e.g. if the antidepressants lead to further weight gain)

[gadders]

>>Being severely obese can make you feel suicidal

I wonder which way the arrow of causality flows, though? Everyone knows that severe obesity is a unhealthy and effectively already a slow form of suicide. A lot of the people you see on the extreme obesity programs have a childhood trauma.

[bluescrn]

Depression -> comfort eating/alcohol -> weight gain -> depression.

Doesn't matter what initiates the cycle, but once you're in it, it's very hard to get out. You're not likely to manage to 'just exercise more'/'just eat less' once the depression sets in.

It's easy to not be too bothered to begin with, when you're just 'a bit fat' and 'mildly depressed', but the problems can slowly build up year upon year until you're morbidly obese and having regular thoughts of suicide.

Sedendary screen-based jobs don't help, neither does work-related stress. And the Covid period (lockdowns/WFH/isolation) put the cycle into overdrive for some.

These new drugs are a possible escape from that cycle, significantly reducing the willpower required to eat less.

[gadders]

I heard someone say that our current food "environment" (highly tasty calorific food with adverse nutritional value; "unhealthy" food being cheap; etc) is a bit like when you are in a casino. Every aspect of it is designed to make you spend (or eat) more.