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Comment by delichon | Hacker News Reader

It may be that it flattens all affect rather than addictions in particular. "Ozempic personality" is associated with anhedonia.

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/ozempic-personality-c...?

I deal with my own addictions but I'm not happy about the prospect of trading them for less joy of life in general.

For me Ozempic isn't an option because it's associated with reduced gut motility and I already have serious problems with that.

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Frankly, I'm enjoying life a hell of a lot more now that my feet, knees, and back aren't killing me all the time.

The article you linked actually gets into that, in a quote from a doctor disputing the validity of the concept of "Ozempic personality".

Right, but we’re talking about people that aren’t necessarily obese using it.

That said it’s not like there aren’t widely used drugs that mess with reward centers. Stimulants and antidepressants both come to mind.

I know it's really tired, everyone knows it, and it is repeated constantly:

Drugs affect different people in different ways.

If 20% of ozempic patients have personality changes, that is very significant. Yet you would still have 80% of users going around saying they never had any issues with it and those who are might just be doing it wrong/misunderstanding/confused etc.

I guess also: a drug might affect the same person in different ways based on different circumstances, age included.

100% of patients who have taken ozempic have had a personality change. The change is that they're now on ozempic. This causes many of them to eat less. Which is also a personality change. So the more useful question is how does their personality change, how much does it change, and is it a desirable change, according to them or others.

Is hedonism joy?

In the same vein, is self-forced pleasure joyous?

Of course it is

Always in all circumstances for everyone? I disagree. One can continue to behave hedonistically without reaping the joy it once gave due to adapted thresholds in the brain.

  anhedonia (noun): an inability to experience pleasure.

Pleasure is not limited to joy but joy is a pleasure. I can't imagine unpleasurable joy.

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