“A pilot randomized study published in Translational Psychiatry (2023) found that in women with Major Depressive Disorder and symptoms of anxiety, taking 5 g of creatine per day was associated with a reduction in anxiety levels, including reduced anxiety within the first week, further improvement throughout the study, and a noticeable reduction in scores on clinical anxiety scales.”

• Where would you place this on a scale from false to accurate, and why?
• What would you need to see to be sure? Who would have the original evidence?
• Which words in the claim are doing the most work?

The post cites a 2023 pilot randomized study in *Translational Psychiatry* showing 5 g of creatine per day reduced anxiety in women with major depressive disorder. No such study could be found. The description most closely matches an older 2015 pilot by Hellem and colleagues in the *Journal of Dual Diagnosis*, which was an open-label trial (not randomized) in 14 women with depression and methamphetamine dependence, and which reported anxiety reductions starting at week 2, not week 1. The general idea that small studies suggest creatine may improve mood and anxiety symptoms is supported by the literature, but the specific citation and several details in the post are inaccurate. Creatine's role in brain energy metabolism is real, but current evidence for treating anxiety in humans remains preliminary and comes from very small trials. Anyone considering creatine for mental health should not rely on this post's specific citation and should consult a healthcare professional.

• A real pilot study did test 5 g/day creatine in a small group of women and reported reductions in both depression and anxiety scores that were maintained through the study.
• Creatine is involved in brain energy metabolism and ATP availability; this is uncontroversial background biology.
• There is a broader and growing (but still preliminary) research literature on creatine and mental health.
• The disclaimers in the post (small sample size, need for larger trials, not a replacement for medical treatment) are accurate.

• **Fabricated / mismatched source attribution:** The post cites "Translational Psychiatry (2023)." No such 2023 pilot RCT on creatine for anxiety in women with MDD exists in that journal based on the searches conducted. This is a source/date mismatch.
• **Study design mislabeled:** The most likely underlying study (Hellem 2015) was **open-label**, not "randomized." Randomized trials in this area (e.g., Lyoo 2012) targeted depression, not anxiety, and did not report the described anxiety-specific timeline.
• **Timeline overstated:** The claim says "reduced anxiety within the first week." The Hellem study reports significance beginning at week 2. This is a temporal exaggeration.
• **Population generalized:** Participants were women with methamphetamine dependence and comorbid depression, a very specific clinical group. The post reframes this as "women with MDD and symptoms of anxiety," which suggests a broader, cleaner population than was studied.

• Whether the post is referencing a study the investigator could not locate. Searches across PubMed, Nature/*Translational Psychiatry*, and general engines returned no match for the exact attribution.
• Whether the poster conflated multiple studies (e.g., Hellem 2015 for the anxiety finding, and a different *Translational Psychiatry* creatine paper for the citation). ---

• Hellem, Sung, Shi, Pett, Latendresse, Morgan, Huber, Kuykendall, Lundberg, Renshaw (2015). "Creatine as a Novel Treatment for Depression in Females Using Methamphetamine: A Pilot Study." *Journal of Dual Diagnosis* (primary)
  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26457568/
• Lyoo et al. (2012). "A Randomized, Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trial of Oral Creatine Monohydrate Augmentation for Enhanced Response to an SSRI in Women With MDD." *American Journal of Psychiatry* (primary)
  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22864465/
• Bakian et al. (2020). "Dietary creatine intake and depression risk among U.S. adults." *Translational Psychiatry* (primary)
  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32066709/
• Fares et al. (2025/2026). "The Effect of Creatine Monohydrate on Mental Disorders: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials" (secondary)
  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12823350/