while it’s still there There are many anecdotes that shake up friendships. Kennen says her decision to take weight loss drugs has only made her friendships stronger. “Everyone makes me really, really happy because they see how happy I am,” she says. “I feel like I’ve been able to do more with them. Last year when I went to a music festival, I had some health issues. … They really gave me a lot. And I felt like I was slowing down the group. ” But at another music festival this year with friends, Kennen had a different experience. “I was able to keep up really well and have fun with my friends. I was able to be a little more active and run around the festival, and my stamina increased.”
Although Kennen’s experience with her friends was ultimately positive, a common criticism of the proliferation of weight loss drugs is that they exacerbate anti-fat bias. Fatphobia, whether internalized or directed at others, can cause tension between friends. “When people are really steeped in this idea of thin beauty ideals and this idea that size is an indicator of health, and potentially spend their lives trapped by that ideology, it can be very difficult to break out of that. ” says Maddie Friedman, LCSW. Equip therapist. “When there are conflicting philosophies in a friendship, there may be a lot of comments about body shape or size, or a conflation of shape and size with health. Sometimes it can feel very difficult to talk about what’s going on in the culture.
“We’ve been through a sad pendulum swing in the broader culture around body acceptance, and now we’re seeing the readily available nature of GLP-1 and the shrinking of people in popular culture. Many people who were potentially working toward body acceptance, or body neutrality, have lost that community or lost a great sense of acceptance in their lives because of the appearance of body neutrality. This is because people are reaffirming the myth that they have control over their body size.
However, experiencing major life changes can also be an opportunity to strengthen your bonds. Slater had previously avoided talking about her experiences with obesity and weight loss drugs, but she began posting on social media and connected with hundreds, even thousands, of people going through the same experiences. . “Some of my closest friends now are people I met through posting on TikTok,” she says. “They’re an incredibly supportive group who understand you as a human being on a deeper level because they too have lived their lives with obesity. There’s still so much to connect with.”
If your friendships have changed because of weight loss drugs and you’re not sure how to handle them, Friedman recommends talking to a professional. Any change, including weight change, can be difficult to handle on your own. “Regardless of where, how, or why, for many people who are faced with a change in body shape or size, how it happens and how it affects their self-esteem and psyche. “Talking to a mental health professional can be very helpful; it can help you develop a sense of self both independently and in relation to others,” she says.
On the other hand, if you are a friend of someone who is taking weight loss drugs and want to better handle it or be there for them, ask yourself what this situation is doing to you. Friedman says. If you need to set clear boundaries, you can do so respectfully. “Conversations about weight, shape, and size can be really uncomfortable and more triggering, especially for people who have a history of eating disorders,” she says. “Most people have experienced not feeling well in their bodies at some point in their lives, so they’re like, ‘Actually, I don’t feel good talking about this,’ or ‘Can I tell you something?’ I don’t think it’s a problem to say that.” Anything else? ‘or more directly draw [boundary]. ”
Nina and her friend are doing well. They made the choice to no longer talk to each other about diet and exercise. “The whole conversation happened at once and we haven’t talked about it since. When we have a disagreement, we usually just put everything on the table and don’t let it drag out.”
Holly believes that GLP-1 forever changed her friendship with her two best friends. “I thought they were both perfect and beautiful just the way they were,” she says. Since then, the friends have stopped taking the medication, and Holly says her relationships with them have healed. “We talk less about weight loss and food and image-centric things,” she says. “It feels like things are getting back to normal for us.”
