{"id":434564,"date":"2025-12-09T02:00:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T02:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/434564\/"},"modified":"2025-12-09T02:00:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T02:00:15","slug":"can-ozempic-heal-adhd-and-alcoholism-the-alt-wellness-community-think-so","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/434564\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Ozempic \u2018heal\u2019 ADHD and alcoholism? The alt-wellness community think so"},"content":{"rendered":"

After two or three alternative medicine podcasts, the idea that Ozempic<\/a> can cure social anxiety<\/a> starts to sound almost reasonable. Sandwiched between claims that Justin Bieber<\/a> is a blue-eyed, blonde-haired extraterrestrial called a Pleiadian<\/a>, and musings about people with purple auras instead of yellow ones, why shouldn\u2019t a weight-loss drug also save us from loneliness?<\/p>\n

These kinds of claims are part of a growing trend among alternative medicine and wellness influencers, who suggest that GLP-1 injections \u2013 a class of drugs originally developed for type 2 diabetes, including semaglutide (sold as Ozempic, Rybelsus, and Wegovy) \u2013 can \u201cheal\u201d everything from chronic illness and infertility to neurodivergence.<\/p>\n

Semaglutide is one of a group of peptides (short chains of amino acids) naturally produced in the body and replicated through medication. In both the US and UK, semaglutide-based drugs \u2013 also used for weight loss \u2013 have surged in popularity in recent years, particularly among under-35s<\/a>. As of September, an estimated 1.5 million people in the UK used GLP-1s<\/a>, with over 90 per cent paying privately. Many prescriptions are available online, allowing people who don\u2019t qualify for the drugs on the NHS to access them for non-traditional reasons, such as chronic pain or recreational weight loss. A black market has also sprung up<\/a> in response to rising demand.<\/p>\n

Within the alternative medical world, the embrace of the drug hinges specifically on its experimental consumption in microdosed quantities. Microdosing GLP-1s is an \u2018off-label\u2019 practice, meaning they can be prescribed outside their licensed use, as long as doctors adhere to official \u201cgood medical practice<\/a>\u201d guidelines. It also, however, means that there is very little scientific research and evidence to show that the practice is effective or even safe.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Still, wellness influencers \u2013 primarily based in the US \u2013 have been promoting the benefits of experimentally injecting GLP-1s. Dr Tyna Moore, a naturopath, chiropractor, and internet personality, claims that microdosing Ozempic can \u201cheal\u201d a wide range of conditions, including arthritis, acne, PCOS, neurodivergence, brain fog, infertility, and even alcoholism. On a recent episode of Steven Bartlett\u2019s Diary of a CEO podcast, she shares anecdotes of the drug\u2019s positive impacts on mental health, despite widespread concerns that it can induce suicidal ideation and depression<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m seeing people who are more of a hermit who don\u2019t want to go out in the world, suddenly venturing out, being more social\u201d, she says, suggesting Ozempic\u2019s anti-inflammatory effects on the brain may be responsible. Meanwhile, Jordan Younger \u2013 the controversial influencer behind \u2018The Balanced Blonde\u2019 \u2013 has credited GLP-1s and peptide injections with improving her own inflammation, chronic illness, mold exposure, and Lyme disease.<\/p>\n

Without discrediting developing research into semaglutide\u2019s alternative benefits, not everybody is as unquestioningly accepting of its adoption beyond regulated treatment for diabetes and obesity. Dr Sean Noronha, a consultant endocrinologist and specialist in diabetes, hormones and weight loss at The Clinic Holland Park, explains: \u201cPeople living with obesity often experience chronic, low-grade inflammation, and reducing this inflammatory burden through weight loss can significantly improve general wellbeing. However, we cannot extrapolate these effects to individuals with a normal BMI<\/a>, and there is currently no evidence that GLP-1s improve symptoms of autoimmune or chronic disease in this context.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lack of empirical evidence surrounding Ozempic\u2019s \u2018healing\u2019 properties is not an issue for advocates of alternative medicine, who are outspokenly sceptical of mainstream medicine and \u2018Big Pharma\u2019. In an episode dedicated to peptide stacking<\/a> \u2013 an experimental biohacking trend involving the injection of personalised amino acid blends \u2013 podcaster Bizzie Gold includes a segment titled \u201cWhy FDA approval is not the gold standard \u2013 and never has been\u201d. Gold credits GLP-1s and other peptides with alleviating her lupus symptoms, restoring hormone balance (improving period regularity and fertility), and even claims they reversed her lipedema, a chronic fat accumulation condition that is commonly understood to be incurable.<\/p>\n

It might seem contradictory to endorse an unregulated, injectable medication while championing holistic and lifestyle-based treatments. But proponents justify it through the familiar blend of new age spiritualism and wellness rhetoric<\/a> that has long underpinned anti-vaccine and science denialist movements, emphasising \u2018natural\u2019 solutions, intuition, and self-love. In the case of semaglutide, naturopathic advocates point to the fact that peptides occur naturally in the body, even as the ones used in supplements and medications are synthetically produced. \u201cYour body already makes peptides naturally. They are natural!!! And we need them to survive!\u201d writes Younger on her Substack.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Younger\u2019s sentiment is echoed across TikTok comment sections, where anti-vax Ozempic users defend their self-medication by emphasising its \u2018natural\u2019 origins \u2013 often in direct opposition to \u2018manufactured\u2019 vaccines. It is online, where anti-vax and wellness discourse is rife, that the increasing ideological weaponisation of alternative medicine is at its most evident. Within these communities, a science-sceptical, pro-Ozempic mindset is worn like a badge of honour. However, these beliefs can have real consequences. As demonstrated by the recent death of Paloma Shemirani<\/a>, who passed away after refusing cancer drugs \u2013 reportedly under the influence of her \u2018natural healer\u2019 mother \u2013 searching for treatments outside of mainstream medical practices needs to be approached with caution.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dr Omar Babar, the medical director of the Healand Clinic in Leicester \u2013 one of the few medically supervised sites in the UK to offer GLP-1 microdosing \u2013 emphasises the importance of medical oversight when undergoing experimental treatments. \u201cI never recommend coming off any other drugs that you are on for autoimmune diseases when microdosing Ozempic\u201d, he says. \u201cI see it as an adjunct, rather than a replacement\u201d.<\/p>\n

Dr Noronha is also explicitly cautious. \u201cGLP-1s are generally a very safe class of medicines,\u201d he explains, \u201cbut serious adverse events \u2013 including anaphylaxis \u2013 can still occur. Any off-label treatment should be undertaken with medical supervision, and medications must be sourced from reputable, regulated suppliers.\u201d He emphasises that the consumption of medications experimentally should be a last resort: \u201cI always emphasise the fundamentals of good health: 7\u20138 hours of high-quality sleep, regular exercise with a focus on resistance training, a minimally processed diet rich in protein and fibre, alcohol moderation and effective stress management.\u00a0 Very few people can honestly say they are meeting all of these consistently.\u201d<\/p>\n

Until more empirical data is available on Ozempic\u2019s effectiveness beyond treating diabetes and obesity, its wider \u2018healing\u2019 potential remains largely anecdotal. In the world of alternative medicine and wellness influencers, it\u2019s also worth being mindful of potential ulterior motives \u2013 for example, many of those promoting these \u2018cures\u2019 are also selling the supplements they endorse.) Whether Ozempic can really \u2018heal\u2019 beyond its regulated purpose is almost beside the point \u2013 for the time being, its experimental use should be marked as exactly that: experimental.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After two or three alternative medicine podcasts, the idea that Ozempic can cure social anxiety starts to sound…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":434565,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[1037,12243,12242,12244,12245,12246,12247,12248,10574,1020,210,12240,12241,1060,975,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-434564","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-art","9":"tag-dazed","10":"tag-dazed-confused","11":"tag-dazed-confused-magazine","12":"tag-dazed-and-confused","13":"tag-dazed-and-confused-magazine","14":"tag-dazedconfused","15":"tag-dazeddigital","16":"tag-fashion","17":"tag-film","18":"tag-health","19":"tag-ideas","20":"tag-ideas-sharing-network","21":"tag-medication","22":"tag-music","23":"tag-united-states","24":"tag-unitedstates","25":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115687143878314318","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434564\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}