Semaglutide linked to lower risk of psychiatric hospital care and sick leave in Swedish study

People diagnosed with depression or anxiety who used semaglutide had a 42 percent lower risk of psychiatric hospital care or sick leave for mental illness during the periods they took the drug, according to a Swedish national cohort study published March 19 in The Lancet Psychiatry ^[1][2].

The research came from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, the University of Eastern Finland and Griffith University in Australia ^[2]. It followed more than 95,000 people through Swedish national registers between 2009 and 2022. Everyone in the group had a diagnosis of depression or anxiety and had been prescribed an antidiabetic medication; 22,480 of them had used a GLP-1 receptor agonist drug ^[2].

Instead of comparing one group of patients against another, the researchers compared periods when the same person was taking an antidiabetic drug with periods when they were not ^[2].

What the numbers showed

The results differed by drug. Semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic, was associated with a 42 percent lower risk of sickness absence and hospital care for psychiatric reasons during periods of use ^[2]. Broken down by condition, the risk reduction was 44 percent for depression, 38 percent for anxiety disorders and 47 percent for substance use ^[2].

Liraglutide was linked to an 18 percent lower risk ^[2]. No significant reduction was seen for exenatide or dulaglutide ^[2]. As a group, GLP-1 drugs were associated with a reduced risk of self-harm ^[2].

The outcome measured was not a symptom score but psychiatric hospital care and sick leave — a proxy for worsening mental illness. The study announcement does not report how many hospital stays or sick-leave days sit behind the percentage figures, what doses people took, or how long they stayed on each drug ^[2]. It also does not report findings for tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound) or orforglipron (Foundayo), which are not named in the study announcement ^[2].

"Our findings suggest that GLP-1 drugs, particularly semaglutide, might contribute to better mental health in people with diabetes and obesity, but since this was an observational study, controlled clinical trials are needed to confirm the results," said the study's last author, Jari Tiihonen, a specialist physician and professor at the Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet ^[2].

The study was funded by the Sigrid Jusélius Foundation. Several authors have taken part in research projects funded by grants from Janssen to their employing institution, and some, including Tiihonen, have connections to other pharmaceutical companies, according to the disclosure notes ^[2].

Why it matters for patients

Depression and anxiety are common among people with type 2 diabetes and obesity, and the two sets of conditions are known to influence each other ^[2]. For patients already taking semaglutide, the findings offer a signal that the drug's use did not track with worse mental health in this population, and that it was associated with less psychiatric care and missed work.

That said, an observational study of this kind cannot show that semaglutide caused the improvement. People who continue a medication for years may differ from those who stop in ways the researchers cannot fully account for, and the study compares periods of use within the same person rather than randomizing anyone to treatment ^[2]. Relative percentages such as 42 percent also say nothing on their own about how large the underlying risk was — a 42 percent drop from a small number of hospital stays is a small change in absolute terms. The study announcement does not give those absolute figures ^[2].

Nothing in the findings addresses whether these drugs treat depression or anxiety directly, and no result here supports starting, stopping or changing any medication for mental health reasons ^[1][2]. It is also not established whether the pattern holds in other countries with different health systems and prescribing habits; this analysis used Swedish registers only ^[2].

What happens next

The authors call for controlled clinical trials to confirm whether GLP-1 drugs, and semaglutide in particular, can improve mental health outcomes in people with diabetes and obesity ^[2]. No specific trial, sponsor or start date has been announced, and no regulatory review of mental health labeling tied to this study has been reported ^[2]. The paper is published online in The Lancet Psychiatry as of March 19, 2026 ^[1][2].