(NewsNation) — GLP-1 drugs prescribed for diabetes and obesity may have the unexpected benefit of reducing mental health problems among users, a new study suggests.

Researchers analyzed the medical records of about 100,000 people — including roughly 20,000 who took GLP-1 drugs — using Swedish national health registers from 2009 to 2022.

GLP-1 drugs, especially those containing semaglutide, were associated with fewer psychiatric-related hospital visits and fewer workplace leaves of absence tied to mental health, the study found.

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People taking semaglutide saw hospital visits drop 42%, while the risk of depression was 44% lower, according to the findings published in The Lancet.

The study does not prove causality or explain why GLP-1 drugs could be a boon for people with mental illness.

The study doesn’t prove causality or determine why GLP-1s could be a boon to people with mental illnesses.

“Because this is a registry-based study, we cannot determine exactly why or how these medications affect mood symptoms, but the association was quite strong,” said Markku Lähteenvuo of the University of Eastern Finland, one of the institutions involved in the research.

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