Psych eval

[jhood2005 17]

Can someone tell me what all the psych. evaluation is about? Thanks, I'm in early process stages, getting ready to go to the seminar, would like more info from people who have been thru it. thanks.

[Leepers 1,195]

My psych evaluation literally lasted five minutes. It was a joke. He asked me family history, my history, was I ever depressed, and did I ever consider suicide. And then I was done. He did all the evals for my surgeon. It was like an assembly line.

[Frederic 500]

Mine on the other hand did a full psychological eval to determine any possible mental illness that was either the underlying cause of my obesity or a barrier to the necessary diet and activity level changes I'd need to make after the surgery. We discussed my motivations for the surgery; the amount of support I could expect from my friends and family; my self image; and my relationship with food and exercise growing up.

Like all professionals the quality of your interaction will vary.

[Jim1967 3,569]

My experience was similar except she did talk to me about the band and my expectations and whether or not I felt I was ready for this lifestyle change. It was probably about 20 to 30 minutes of total time sitting down chatting and it would be no different then sitting down talking over coffee with someone. No need to be nervous or reserved. Just be yourself...

[SillyAuntDi 1,610]

My eval was pretty interesting. We discussed life changes, ability to follow directions, support, self image. He wanted to know if I had any history of depression or other issues. I said a few things in the eval that made him stop and look at me with a bit of concern, but he smiled and relaxed when I said that I was already speaking to a counselor about my anxiety issues. He said that was great and put it in his notes. Then I had a take a battery of tests...questions like "I want to kill myself. True or False" It was about 2 hours long total.

[Bandista 7,466]

Hi there, after I attended the seminar and met with the program coordinator, the next step for me was a psych eval and meeting with the nutritionist (same day, back-to-back). I had to take a test with a number two pencil, the kind where you circle an answer on a 1-5 scale. There's a lot of reframing of the same questions. I could tell they were looking for compliance issues (are you likely to do what the doctor tells you), extreme depression (do you think about killing yourself), etc. It was interesting. Then I met with the counsellor to discuss any issues I might have. We talked a lot about previous weight loss attempts, body image, etc. I had already met with the nutritionist so it was, in a way, a continuation of the previous discussion. Also I let her know that I had recently started seeing a therapist to discuss food issues and eating triggers -- some one to go through the process with me. That was very helpful and I recommend it if possible. After my psych eval I finally got to meet the surgeon and things went pretty quickly from there. Good luck to you!

[mirabb2002 14]

Thank you all for the great information. I'll be meeting the surgeon for the first time tomorrow 2/6and now that the psych eval should follow. I'm worried but hearing your stories helps ease my nerves. Also how long did it take to hear back that the eval went good? Thank you all again and best wishes

[alicesandra 98]

My psych eval was quick. I went in, he asked me the basics about my lifestyle/exercise routines, as well as about my family/friends for past & future support purposes and what led up to my wanting the surgery. As well as the questionnaire they have you do. I heard back a few days later from my surgeon saying the eval went great and he was on board with it!

I would not be worried going into it, be strong, and get right to the point with answers. If you give them too much breathing room, they will dig deeper into things than need be. I learned that long ago. Good luck with it! It may seem scary, but it really isn't.

[steph2012 252]

It's interesting to read your posts. I didn't have to complete a psych evaluation...

[alicesandra 98]

Some places might not require it, but a lot do just to make sure the people who want to get the surgery done are in the right mind frame going into it, and understand that the band is a tool and not a magical way to lose a lot of weight.

[2muchfun 8,927]

Some psych evals are a joke.

Mine was, she didn't believe in WLS, spent the entire time talking about how fat she got from a divorce and then how she lost 50 lbs with some extreme weight/exercise program. She was so over the top it was frightening to think this woman was a professional?

She signed me up for 3 sessions a week with her at $200 a session for the next 6 months. Ka-ching anyone? Enrolled me in an extreme exercise program that my body could never have withstood. I called her back an hour later and cancelled everything. She angrily said, "so, all you really wanted was my permission to have WLS"? Yup I said. My opinion of shrinks declines with every one I meet. That's just me though.

tmf

[alicesandra 98]

I had the same experience with a previous 'shrink'. I was originally going for the gastric bypass when I had hit 18/19, and she was the last step I needed to do before my surgeons would be alright with it. I slipped up a bit and she got her hooks into me and took me from what was supposed to be one appointment, into 6 months worth and wanted to see me every two weeks, and I was really persistent with wanting to get it done and went to them.

I eventually gave up after she promised me she would send her approval letter to my surgeons, only to backtrack the next appointment and say she wanted a ton of more appointments because she wasn't happy with me. In between that, my towns hospital put out an article in the newspaper about them focusing on doing lap band surgeries, so I went to the seminar and haven't looked back since. I'm so glad it ended up that way, but it taught me to not let them get any kind of upper hand within the questionings.

What took me a year+ with a bigger/more "professional" WLS geared hospital, only to end up absolutely nowhere, took me 3 months at the one I've been going to since I was born to have all my insurance sorted/doctors agreed/psych eval done.

Edited February 5, 2014 by alicesandra

[Frederic 500]

As someone who works with Behavioral Health Professionals I'm really disappointed to hear some of these accounts and I encourage you to report your negative experiences to your respective state licensing bodies. It sounds like some of these people really shouldn't be practicing and may even be guilty of insurance fraud in some states.

[Jim1967 3,569]

My experience was pleasant and helpful as I previously stated. Only difference is the Counselor I sat down with is part of my WLS Center so she works directly with obesity and wls. For this reason I am always recommending to people that if your going to have this type of life altering surgery always try to seek out what is called a Center of Excellence which comprised of a team of surgeons, nurse educators, dietitians, exercise specialists and psychologists all under one roof.

[CarmenLeAn 99]

Mine lasted about an hour. We talked a little bit about everything. Past weight, junior high & high school, family. things like that. I see a therapist for some issues. So the guy asked for a letter from my therapist stating I was in a good place in life and we had talked about WLS. He told me once I got the letter I was good to go. Easy, peasy