Dr. Don Grant, a psychologist and national adviser for Newport Healthcare, says unregulated peptide use is becoming increasingly common, especially among patients who follow influencers. He says he has seen patients on peptides and had told them to “stop it.” “It should never be done or taken without the supervision, approval, and monitoring of a medical doctor,” he adds.
Stimulants have long been used as appetite suppressants, he adds, but he’s seeing more patients use them in such a way now that influencers talk about it openly. “With all of the social media and influencers and the dark web where you can get certain things—snap. All of this, it just has evolved.”
Dr. Lucy McBride, a primary care physician in Washington, DC, doesn’t want to speculate about what might have caused Peters’s disorientation. Still, she says in a phone call that his incident highlights the dangers of turning to online personalities for health advice. “It’s incredibly sad for that person, and I think it’s sad that there’s an appeal to people who are peddling health advice when they actually have no expertise,” she says. “People are gravitating to the illusion of certainty being dispensed by people online…[because they have] conceptualized health as perfectionism—perfect looks, perfect everything.”
In her upcoming book, Beyond the Prescription: A Doctor’s Guide to Taking Charge of Your Health, McBride writes about why regular people look to influencers for health advice. “People don’t know who to trust. They don’t have access to doctors, they don’t know who to trust in the federal government for health advice,” she says.
McBride also notes that in young people, social isolation and substance abuse tend to go hand in hand. “In my experience, people are drinking less alcohol,” she says. “In certain cohorts, people are using more psychedelic medications. Substance abuse has been around since the beginning of time. I think it’s alive and well.”
Following harmful health advice online, McBride explains, often comes from a desire for control over the uncontrollable aspects of life. “You don’t need a doctor to tell you meth is bad, but you do need a guide to help you navigate through medical and wellness advice,” she says. “It’s not that all medical advice online is bad; it’s not. [But] it’s a jungle out there.”
In the meantime, Peters is back at it. On Wednesday afternoon, he hopped onto his Kick livestream to announce that he would not be canceling a planned appearance at a Miami nightclub that evening. “Gotta be on the grind,” he said.
