Weight loss drugs are the de facto zeitgeist-seizers of our times. Not just because they appear to be an antidote for a widespread healthcare problemic (new word alert!) but because they crystallise the brave new healthcare ecosystem.

They are the ‘perhaps positive’ and certainly inevitable off-spill from the era of insta, doctors’ strikes, self-care, Whatsapp groups you can’t escape from and the post-institutionalised health culture we are currently shaping.

And this shift to autonomy certainly does circumnavigate traditional methods, underscoring a confidence among the masses to ‘own’ their health – to take the ubiquitous ‘journey’ and to, often, share that ubiquitous ‘journey’.

Even if you are not using a GLP-1, it is impossible not to imagine a similar scenario regarding your own physical or, indeed, mental condition. After all, if you can trick the body into thinking it has had a fish and chip supper, what other pharmaceutical sorcery might be possible?

Could my eyes be persuaded that they can see further than one metre? Could my head ‘realise’ that it does want to yield a flowing, shoulder-cascading mullet after all?

It seems that the fundamental motivation behind weight loss drugs is not just about shedding pounds, it is about taking on our deepest insecurities and offering us the chance of victory.

Enjoy the mag,

John Pinching
editor

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