A RAND survey finds 44% of drinkers cut back within three months of starting a GLP-1, a Lancet Psychiatry cohort links GLP-1s to fewer psychiatric hospitalizations in people with schizophrenia, and Quel CMO Dr. Steve Klein joins PBS NewsHour’s “GLP-1s Reshaping America.”

At Quel Health, we are actively keeping up with the evolving evidence on GLP-1s and addiction. As part of that effort, we follow the clinical trials that are underway. Here’s an overview of the clinical trials we are tracking on ClinicalTrials.gov, a public registration database that is required for all US trials, as of October 5, 2026, along with our takeaways.

Eli Lilly presents five substance use disorder posters on brenipatide at Psych Congress, signaling a major investment in addiction treatment. Plus, clinics nationwide see rising kratom and 7-OH dependence.

While GLP-1 medications have revolutionized weight management, high rates of discontinuation and weight gain after cessation mean that the changes may be impermanent. Noom CEO Geoff Cook presents the term “habit window” to signify a time period in which behavior modification, new habit formation, and lifestyle redesign may be more potent and effective because of decreased food noise.

We live in a Dopamine Nation, a term that Stanford physician-scientist Anna Lembke, MD so accurately coined over five years ago in her blockbuster book. And since then, the various algorithms competing for our attention have only increased in power with the integration of AI into our social media feeds, the rise of online prediction markets and sports-betting, and the popularization of highly addictive kratom and 7-OH within regulatory grey areas. Our networks are overloaded.