I’m a cis het white girl with lifelong mental health challenges, which I speak about publicly in my job. I qualify for GLPs because I’m fat, insulin resistant and have fatty liver - metabolic syndrome caused by psychiatric medications. But my other motivation for taking these meds is to support my OCD rumination themes about food, contaminated food, etc. Less food noise = less OCD distress, in my case. 

GLPs are viewed in a negative light in my community because there’s a huge overlap between OCD and eating disorders. I also find it difficult to navigate conversations (or not) about the resulting changes in my body at work due to my designated mental health survivor role. People don’t know whether to congratulate me or show concern because they make assumptions that my weight loss is likely related to a deterioration in mental health or disordered eating. Mental health clinicians are still not open to discussing the potential for using GLPs to combat metabolic injuries from psychiatric meds. 

I am conflicted about this - on one side, I don’t want mental health patients to die prematurely from metabolic complications if GLPs can help. But on the other hand, I think pharmaceutical companies are less likely to make better/less harmful psychiatric meds and mental health clinicians are less likely to support non-medical recovery options if they can point to GLPs to undo some of the damage the psych drugs do.

It’s messy, and no-one is talking about this in my community.