Brian Pollack, LCSW, CEDS-C
Brian is the Founder and Clinical Director of Hilltop Behavioral Health, a boutique eating disorder specialty practice in Summit, NJ. He is one of the few male master’s-level Certified Eating Disorder Specialists in the country, with expertise in FBT, male clients, athletes, and muscle dysmorphia. He hosts the Minding Men podcast and serves as an adjunct professor at Yeshiva University.
Learn more about Brian →Navigating Ozempic’s popularity in eating disorder recovery.
Navigating Ozempic and a trusted relationship with food at the same time is one of the most common challenges we hear about right now. GLP-1a have recently become very popular due to their ability to make people lose weight. This off-label and non-FDA-approved use of the drug gained popularity, in part due to celebrity endorsements and media coverage. On TikTok, the hashtag has been viewed hundreds of millions of times, and speculation from celebrities like Kim Kardashian about Ozempic has only increased the public’s interest.
A recent survey by Tebra, a leading cloud-based healthcare technology platform, asked 1,000 individuals in the US about their thoughts on Ozempic. The survey found that 47% of respondents knew someone who was taking the drug—nearly half of all participants! But despite the drug’s growing popularity, there doesn’t seem to be much discussion about the implications of Ozempic’s influence and why it won’t be a helpful choice for everyone – especially for individuals in eating disorder recovery.
Eating disorders are characterized by abnormal eating behaviors and a negative self-perception that impact your physical and mental health. Seeing people use Ozempic for weight loss can not only be triggering but also dangerous for your recovery. So, what do we do when it seems everyone is either on or talking about Ozempic, but you know it’s not the right choice for your health and recovery journey?
That’s what we’ll discuss in this article. Here’s a look at some of the key points we will cover:
- We will discuss the implications of Ozempic’s popularity, including its influence on our society’s preoccupation with weight loss and those in eating disorder recovery.
- We will learn three tips for discerning your health needs.
- We will explore three ways you can block out the diet culture noise.
The Implications of Ozempic’s Popularity
The latest KFF Health Tracking Poll, conducted in May 2024, found that about one in eight adults, or 12%, have taken a GLP-1 agonist at some point in their lives. Six percent, or about 15 million people, reported currently taking this type of medication.
GLP-1 agonists are an increasingly popular class of prescription drugs for weight loss, the most popular example being Ozempic. While most adults who took these drugs were prescribed them for chronic conditions like diabetes or heart disease, about 40% reported taking them primarily to lose weight. Despite the drug not being FDA-approved for weight loss and, therefore, not typically covered by insurance, millions of people are still paying out of pocket for Ozempic at a rate of nearly $1,000 per prefilled pen.
The dramatic increase in Ozempic’s popularity for weight loss can be attributed to media coverage and celebrity endorsement. Speculation that Kim Kardashian has used the medication and Jimmy Kimmel’s Ozempic joke at the 2023 Oscars are just two examples of the drug’s social influence.
Public and medical opinions about Ozempic appear mixed. Some praise the drug, and others worry about its implications. After all, Ozempic is being used off-label, so there isn’t clear evidence about its long-term safety or effectiveness.
Also at Hilltop
Food Feels Difficult When Everyone Around You Is Doing Something Different.
You don’t have to figure out how to block the noise alone. Our team specializes in eating disorder recovery for people who are staying the course — even when the world is pulling in another direction.
The first conversation is freeSide Effects of Taking Ozempic
Physical
- Reflux
- Nausea
- Abdominal cramping
- Delayed gastric emptying
- Constipation
- Risk of developing pancreatitis
Emotional
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Suicidal thoughts
- Irritability
- Change in behavior or personality
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If Ozempic Doesn’t Feel Right for You, There May Be a Reason.
Sometimes the resistance isn’t stubbornness. Sometimes it’s your body telling you something that hasn’t been asked about yet. We work with people who are sorting out their relationship with food, weight, and the pressure to do something about it. The first conversation is free.
Reach Out TodayInfluence of Society’s Preoccupation with Weight Loss
We are already beginning to see the consequences of our country’s obsession with marketing Ozempic as a weight-loss drug. When a drug like Ozempic gains popularity for off-label use, such as weight loss, it can cause shortages for those using the medication as intended. Right now, over half of Americans with diabetes report having trouble getting this medication.
Alongside supply challenges, Tebra’s Ozempic survey found that 76% of medical providers are concerned about medication misuse. The medication is now being sold online, which means people are bypassing their primary care provider to get the prescription medication. This increases the risk of other medication interference and abuse of Ozempic. And we are seeing it. The first case of abuse of Ozempic in an eating disorder patient was reported on and published in 2024.
So, Ozempic for weight loss is preventing diabetics from receiving the medication and is increasingly the risk for misuse. It’s also strengthening our country’s thin-centric and diet-obsessed culture, which puts more people at risk for disordered eating, poor body image, and low self-esteem.
Ozempic’s The Impact on Eating Disorder Recovery
Ozempic’s popularity is putting a lot of media’s attention back on weight loss. Celebrities are endorsing the medication, and TikTok has millions of people viewing its Ozempic content. For the millions of Americans who are in recovery from an eating disorder, the media’s obsession and glorification of weight loss can feel overwhelming and disheartening.
Not only can these weight loss trends trigger eating disorder thoughts and urges, but they can also make people suffering or in recovery from eating disorders feel alone in their fight against diet culture and toxic beauty standards. It’s important to share the less discussed implications of Ozempic’s popularity so that the millions fighting for recovery know that people support their perspective and are exploring Ozempic’s potential dangers. For this reason, I switch gears in the next part of this article. I’ll give people in recovery practical tips for determining their health needs and blocking the Ozempic noise.
How to Discern Your Health Needs?
In today’s society, we are flooded with information. Since we live in a thin-centric and diet-obsessed society, an abundance of content surrounds opinions about food, exercise, body size, and beauty. Whether through social media, streaming platforms, Google ads, or highway billboards, someone is always trying to sell us a service, idea, or product that will make us “better versions of ourselves.”
Right now, a huge culprit for the content surrounding weight loss is a drug called Ozempic. Ozempic is a prescription medication approved to treat type 2 diabetes in adults. Its active ingredient, semaglutide, is known to cause weight loss, and many people are taking it for this non-FDA-approved use. Ozempic is gaining popularity due to its media coverage and celebrity endorsements, making it likely that you’ve come across information about the drug on your social media platform or through conversations with friends and family.
Being exposed to people’s weight loss stories and constant opinions about food and body image when you’re in eating disorder recovery can easily trigger eating disorder thoughts and urges. To protect yourself, it can be helpful to have a plan for filtering out the unhelpful content so that you can focus on the support from your treatment team and the people in your life who care about you.
Below is a list of three things to consider when determining if what you’re hearing aligns with your personal recovery process and unique health needs.
- Reliable Sources
The internet and social media platforms are full of unqualified individuals giving health advice. Guidance about your health needs should come from reliable sources familiar with your situation, like your therapist, dietitian, or medical doctor. Instead of taking someone’s opinion as fact, ask your treatment team for resources, such as podcasts, books, or articles, that would benefit your recovery.
When in doubt, consult your treatment team. These professionals have gone through the education, training, and licensure process necessary to answer your questions and support you in finding the right path for your health.
- Block Out the Noise
Once you’ve begun working on your eating disorder recovery, block out the world’s noise. We will always find unhelpful tips about food and body image if we don’t take measures to filter out the triggering information.
A good, but not fool-proof, first step in blocking the noise is repeatedly reminding yourself of your treatment goals. Focusing on your recovery goals strengthens new neural pathways in your brain, which are responsible for how you process information. When you build new pathways, you can begin to have new associations with food and body image separate from the opinions of your eating disorder.
Sticking to What You Need Despite a Louder Conversation Happening Around You
Millions of individuals in the US are taking Ozempic, and even more are discussing the drug. So, if you’ve determined that Ozempic isn’t the right choice for you, it’s essential to find ways to protect yourself from the louder conversation happening around you. Below are three ideas to help you stick with what you need despite other people’s choices.
TikTok has been a huge contributor to Ozempic’s current popularity. Hundreds of millions of people are viewing and discussing videos about using the drug for weight loss. Watching these videos can make you question your choice not to use it. Consider unfollowing or muting any accounts that promote Ozempic for weight loss.
- Trust in your treatment team.
If you’re in recovery from an eating disorder and working on blocking out the conversation around Ozempic, then a great resource is your treatment team. These healthcare professionals will help you determine your goals in recovery. Trust their guidance and remove other sources of information from individuals who aren’t a part of your healing process.
If you have people in your life who are taking Ozempic, it might be necessary to set some boundaries. You can explore how to appropriately communicate your boundaries and follow through in keeping them with your therapist.
Reach Out for Support Today
If you are struggling with or recovering from an eating disorder and are having a hard time navigating the noise around Ozempic, Hilltop Behavioral Health has a team of expert professionals who would love to support you. Feel free to bring any thoughts or questions that might have arisen from this article to your session with your therapist.
Take the First Step. Find an Eating Disorder Therapist in Summit, NJ.
Hilltop Behavioral Health has a team of eating disorder specialists who treat individuals in eating disorder recovery. You can request a free consultation call with a team member on their website to see if they’d fit your needs.
If your relationship with food and body feels off, our New Jersey eating disorder treatment team can help.
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Not Sure Ozempic Is the Right Call? You’re Not Alone.
When everyone around you seems to be on it, opting out can feel isolating. We specialize in eating disorder recovery for people who want a different path.
Reach Out TodayReferences
Guerdjikova, A., Ward, A., Ontiveros, M., McElroy, S. (2024). Semaglutide Misuse in Atypical Anorexia Nervosa—A Case Report. Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, 44(2), 179-180.
Lennon, J. (2024). Can you stomach it?: A content analysis of TikTok videos and comments about weight loss with Ozempic (Master’s thesis).
Naslund, J. A., Bondre, A., Torous, J., Aschbrenner, K. A. (2020). Social Media and Mental Health: Benefits, Risks, and Opportunities for Research and Practice. Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science, 5, 245-257.
Noyes, Jesse. “The Impact of Ozempic in the US: 3 Takeaways from a Recent Survey.” Patient Care [Online], 14 June 2023. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A777403187/AONE?u=anon~67b87ccf&sid=googleScholar&xid=a660799e. Accessed 4 Jan. 2025.
Sharp, G., Girolamo, T., Hay, P., Mitchison, D., Cooper, K., Sumithran, P., Jebeile, H. (2023, September). New anti-obesity medications: Considerations and future directions in people with concurrent eating disorders. Australian Journal of General Practice, 52(9).
