From my perspective, and I look forward to reading yours:
I want to start with Ozempic (and its cohort).
Not because I think they’re evil.
Not because I think people are wrong for taking them.
Not because I don’t understand the relief many people feel – I do.
What I’m interested in is what this moment is revealing
about recovery,
about addiction & distraction,
about how we, as a society, relate to discomfort.
Because Ozempic isn’t just a weight-loss drug.
It’s a signal.
And I believe we are personally and publicly served to proceed more carefully.
What I’m Noticing
When I listen to the public conversation, I hear a lot of this:
Weight dysregulation is a medical condition.
This drug treats it.
It doesn’t feel like a personal failure anymore.
I understand – with my life, since before my teens – why that lands.
And I know I am not alone.
Shame around weight has been brutal. Dehumanizing. Often cruel.
And biology absolutely matters.
But I also notice something else happening in me – a kind of quiet alarm.
a sense that something important is being skipped over.
Because these drugs don’t only affect appetite.
They affect reward. Craving. The pull toward things that help us regulate.
Food, yes.
But also alcohol, nicotine,
sometimes other compulsive behaviors
(and sometimes even healthy motivators and pleasures).
For some people, that’s a huge relief.
The noise – the pull stops. The obsession quiets.
They feel free for the first time in years, decades, a lifetime.
For others – and I think this matters –
when the pull stops (for food and other things)
what it was covering doesn’t magically disappear.
Sometimes it comes forward.
Sometimes it goes sideways.
Sometimes it shows up as anxiety, flatness, irritability, or a strange sense of disorientation.
That doesn’t mean the drug is “bad” per se
It means something changed.
Something that was covering, protecting, regulating – is gone.
Now what?
Weight as a Trailing Indicator
From my perspective, weight is almost never the root problem.
It’s a trailing indicator.
It tells us something has been off – imbalanced – for a while.
That “something” can be many things:
illness, inflammation, hormonal imbalance, gut dysregulation,
chronic stress, unresolved grief, trauma, long-term overwhelm,
a lifestyle that doesn’t match the nervous system – the life – we’re actually living in…
None of this is moral failure.
None of this is simple.
None of this is automatically resolved just because weight goes down.
Yes, humans are very good at overriding weight.
We can do it with drugs, hunger, extreme willpower, exercise, surgery…
But overriding a signal isn’t the same as understanding it,
then addressing it – as the gift it is.
Sometimes quieting the signal is helpful.
Sometimes it buys time.
Sometimes it just means the deeper work, healing, growth hasn’t started yet.
Addiction Is About Regulation
I’ve spent a long time around addiction and recovery,
and what I keep coming back to is this:
Addictions aren’t about pleasure.
They’re about regulation.
Addictions separate us more from the aliveness of our body, communication with our body, healthy relationship with our body.
Food. Alcohol. Nicotine. Work. Caretaking. Scrolling. Control. Achievement. Even being “good.”
These aren’t random. They’re strategies.
– especially when used to come out of the body instead of into it,
– as in turn down the alarms of – pain, fear, shame, loneliness, exhaustion.
So when a medication dampens one of those strategies,
I assume the need underneath this does not disappear.
I assume the system has to reorganize.
Sometimes that reorganization is healthy and settling.
Sometimes it’s rough – but finds a new normal and goes on.
Sometimes it finds a new outlet. In my personal and clinical experience – this is usually the case, until we address the underlying disturbance.
I am not writing about this because I’m concerned that people are using Ozempic as a tool
– it’s that individuals and the system seem to be acting as if the tool is the whole story.
From my perspective, turning off the fire alarm helps!
It really is upsetting, and it is supposed to be.
But shutting off the smoke detector helps, only if I keep paying attention
– attend to what is smoking and make sure there’s no fire.
The fire alarm is not the issue, one way or another.
But turning it off without finding out the source of the issue:
hurts in the long run – while seeming to help in the short run.
The Pill-as-Answer Pattern
Ozempic didn’t invent this pattern.
It fits into a system we already know very well.
In our culture, we’re trained to believe that
almost anything can be handled with a pill,
maybe surgery if needed.
Inner discipline is optional.
Long-term formation is inconvenient.
Slow practices are suspect, or at least disappointing.
Meditation, for example, isn’t unpopular because it doesn’t work.
It’s unpopular because it asks something of us every day.
To feel.
It asks us to stay present.
To not immediately fix or flee.
Exercise made it into the mainstream because it’s visible and productive.
Meditation builds quieter muscles
– emotional tolerance, restraint, discernment, humility.
Those don’t photograph as well.
So we keep reaching outward.
And again — I’m not standing outside this.
No worries: I live in this system too.
What I’m Genuinely Concerned About
I’m concerned that we’re teaching ourselves – yet again –
that symptoms are the enemy and silence equals health.
Looking good is the goal – not full wellbeing.
I’m concerned that people on Ozempic who feel emotionally flat or unsettled
while “doing everything right” will assume something is wrong with them,
instead of recognizing that
a coping strategy has been removed without much support to replace it.
And I’m concerned about scale.
Millions of people are already taking these drugs.
Many are not understanding clearly that this is likely lifelong.
Or that weight often returns when the medication stops.
Or that changes in reward processing can affect mood, meaning, and motivation.
Even if this helps many individuals – it shapes the wellbeing (or not) of the whole system.
The Bigger Frame I Can’t Unsee
Here’s the frame that helps me hold this (with ease and grace)
We are living with levels of comfort, stimulation, abundance
that our inner muscles were never trained for.
That’s not a moral judgment.
It’s an observation.
In the body, we understand this.
Strength, endurance, flexibility, balance…
are built slowly, through attention & intention, repetition & resistance.
Addiction, from this angle, isn’t a personal failure.
It’s what happens when demand exceeds capacity.
Medication can lower demand. That can be merciful.
But capacity still matters.
In the inner life, we keep hoping for shortcuts to this capacity
– to wellbeing.
This includes me – I am not let-out of this requirement.
I would have taken a pill if I could:
to find wellbeing on every level
– physical, emotional, intellectual, relational, vocational, financial, soul…
But, I had to learn the hard way. I have to develop day by freakin day.
I don’t like this – although there are many great parts – I would prefer a pass – a pill.
But, there isn’t, and I have found, despite the challenges – this Way is a Gift.
I not only have to – I get to heal, grow, shine – every freakin day.
Meekness, Sovereignty, and Recovery
In recovery language, we talk about surrender and strength.
I’ve come to see meekness as the bridge between them.
Meekness isn’t weakness.
It’s strength that isn’t compulsive.
The ability to feel without immediately acting.
To want without being driven.
To choose instead of react.
That’s sovereignty.
Not control over others – self-governance.
Practices like meditation don’t make life smaller.
They make us more able to truly live inside it
without numbing, escalating, collapsing…
That’s investing in the Inner Game of Adulting,
resulting in being
more capable,
more resilient,
more free.
Where I Actually Land
I’m not interested in shaming anyone for wanting relief.
Dude, I want relief.
I am interested in wholeness, well-being, maturity – for each and all.
What about you?
I want us to keep asking these kinds of questions:
What was this behavior helping me manage?
What capacities do I need now?
What support do I need as things change?
What actually helps me feel resilient — not just comfortable?
Because weight loss, sobriety, or symptom relief
isn’t the end of the journey.
Often, it’s where the real one begins.
An Open Door
I don’t have final answers. I’m still inside the questions.
What has regulated you — for better or worse?
What has actually helped you build inner fortitude?
What practices have given you more choice, more range, more sovereignty?
Let’s talk about it.
Recovery, at its heart, isn’t about fixing what’s broken.
It’s about
becoming continually more able to live more fully in the truth and beauty
of our selves & our lives.
Being, staying here, now, with.
And in this work of well-being
– slow, imperfect, human –
maturity matters most.
That’s what I say.
What say you, friends?
