A Striking New Link Between GLP-1s and Reduced Violence

In just a few years, GLP-1 weight loss medications like Wegovy and Ozempic have upended American culture and changed the discourse around weight, dieting, and body size. As these drugs skyrocket in popularity, evidence is growing both empirically and anecdotally that they may do more than just help people drop weight. Most commonly, many people report that their "food voice" is quieted on the medications—the constant background preoccupation with when the next opportunity to eat would be, and the cravings that feel so hard to withstand, are suddenly silent. On a less positive note, others report dampened pleasure even to the point of anhedonia. And still others seem to experience lessened addictive tendencies beyond the realm of food, with diminished compulsive behavior. It's easy to imagine a singular psychiatric theme among all these effects, perhaps involving the reduced drive for pleasurable sensations in the moment. And now, another variable has shown up notably in the data: the urge to act destructively.

A new study from Rutgers University published in Criminology suggests that GLP-1s may possibly affect people's tendencies toward violence. Specifically, this mechanism might involve an alteration in impulsivity and alcohol consumption—the building blocks of violent behavior.

The researchers analyzed data from 7,521 adults living in the United States and focused specifically on 821 people who had been on a GLP-1 medication, comparing those who had been on GLP-1s in the past but had stopped, versus those who were currently taking the medication.

Across all participants, higher impulsivity and alcohol use were strongly linked to more violent behavior. What was interesting, however, was that among individuals who were currently on a GLP-1, the relationship between violent behavior and impulsivity got much weaker. What this suggests is that there was a greater ability among those on GLP-1s to moderate their behavior even if they had urges—to be able, for instance, to stop themselves from acting destructively even if their impulses were telling them to do so.

Might this be thematically similar to the lessened food cravings that people on the GLP-1s report? Is there a similar brain pathway that modulates food-related urges, like binge-eating or reaching for the sweetest of desserts, as there is for punching a wall or kicking a person when overcome by anger?

Future research will need to tease this out, especially since the impulsivity-violence-GLP-1 relationship in this study was merely observed via surveys, rather than empirically tested to show potential causation. Still, as more and more individuals begin taking these weight-loss medications, the mental health effects—both potentially positive and potentially negative—are worthy of careful study.