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GLP-1 drugs offer an opportunity to reflect on primary desires and frustrations.

Ozempic and similar medications may represent a Victorian morality culture that sees desire as a problem.

Overcoming base desires like appetite reflects a fantasy for life without tension.

Ozempic has been a breakthrough for many, correcting eating disorders and managing blood sugar, weight, and more. A recent New Yorker article highlights an under-discussed bio-psychological side effect of GLP-1 drugs: the weakening of desire overall. In Dhruv Khullar’s piece, “Can Ozempic Cure Addiction?”, he argues that GLP-1 drugs work as “moderation molecules,” reducing primary desires for things like food or alcohol, giving us quick and easy dopamine.

One interesting secondary effect is that this moderation molecule has an alter ego: a “desire dampener” that, according to Khullar, can “go too far.” He notes anecdotal reports of lower sex drives or decreased interest and motivation. As Sarah Kawasaki at Penn State Health observes, “when we take a medicine in the hope that it will curb a particular desire, we’re meddling with a complex system.” These drugs may not distinguish........

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