People With Eating Disorders Report Success Self-Medicating With Non-Rx Drugs

FRIDAY, Aug. 1, 2025 (HealthDay News) — People with eating disorders report success with self-medicating with nonprescribed drugs instead of prescription antidepressants, according to a study published online July 22 in JAMA Network Open.

Sarah-Catherine Rodan, from the Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics, Brain and Mind Centre at the University of Sydney, and colleagues explored use of prescribed and nonprescribed drugs among individuals with eating disorders (6,612 survey respondents).

The researchers reported that diagnosed eating disorders included anorexia nervosa (40.8 percent), bulimia nervosa (19.0 percent), binge-eating disorder (11.4 percent), and avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (8.9 percent), while 37.7 percent of respondents were undiagnosed. Psychiatric comorbidities were highly prevalent, including depression (65.5 percent). The highest-rated drugs for improving eating disorder symptoms were cannabis and psychedelics, while alcohol, nicotine, and tobacco were rated as the most harmful drugs. While rated highly for overall mental health, prescription antidepressants were not rated highly for eating disorder symptoms, with the exception of fluoxetine for bulimia nervosa and lisdexamfetamine for binge-eating disorder.

“These findings highlight an important pattern: with traditional medications often falling short in treating eating disorders directly, while many individuals are self-medicating with substances they perceive as helpful,” Rodan said in a statement. “This underlines the urgent need to better investigate these substances in rigorously controlled clinical trials.”

Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

Abstract/Full Text