Psych Eval

[lmwilla 21]

What all is the psych eval looking at? Mine is 3 hours long and I am nervous about it!

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[J.lynn 50]

@@lmwilla 3 hours long! For goodness sake!

Mine was only about 30-45 minutes. The psychologist just asked about my weight history, family history, made sure I was aware of the post-op diet plan, went over mental health... I was honest with him about feeling depressed or anxious at times and about how I turn to food for comfort. He asked me what were my reasons for wanting surgery.

Not sure what you would need to say to NOT get the clear from psych, but I wouldn't worry too much about it.

It was actually nice to talk about it with someone else, mainly because I have never really verbalized my issues with food before.

[Rainy Days 73]

My psych eval was super easy and I had the nicest psychologist (who has had WLS, so that was extra great). My eval was scheduled for 2 hours, but it took less than 1 hour. She asked me basic questions about what have I done to lose weight before, what are the potential complications of surgery, what do I feel the outcome of surgery will be, etc. She also had me answer random questions like what is 8745 backwards, draw a circle inside a triangle, and other odd things like that. I asked her why she did those and she said it was to demonstrate that I can follow directions. She also asked about depression, anxiety, etc. I have some anxiety, but it wasn't a problem as I'm still a functional person . In all, it was a very pleasant meeting and I knew immediately that she'd approve me for surgery. Try to not stress about it.

[Sandi73 15]

My eval was last week. I had to speak with her for an hour and then spent a long time doing fill-in-the-circle tests. She was the only option I was given and she was herself quite overweight.

I felt throughout that she was judging the choice for surgery and she made comments that though there was no psychological reason for me to be declined, that she thought the insurance would reject. I have a BMI over 40, but have no comorbitities. I've been upset ever since. I'll also be below 40 if I lose 15 pounds, so there's another worry.

Overall, the psych eval, which should have been a simple thing, has now caused me great stress that I won't be able to get rid of until I can actually submit for approval. Just another worry to add to the list.

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[missvee 28]

My eval was 1.5 hours long with a mix of conversation and questions on a computer. The talking part was easy, he asked questions about from the time I was in elementary school until present. About my parents, kids, significant other, work and so forth. The computer part was brutal! Over 400 questions!

He came back after a couple minutes with this graph told me I was borderline depressed but that it had to do with my weight. All in all wasn't as scary as I thought, and he said that the range I was in was actually good in terms of paperwork work wise for insurance and that it shouldn't be a problem.

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[katanne 215]

Mine was mostly to see how much I understood about my surgery and the possible complications and what changes I would have to make. She asked about sources of support, things I could do to cope with stress without eating, and about my psych history - I happen to have bipolar disorder, so she had to go into that and then contacted my psychologist and psychiatrist later to make sure I am compliant with meds and go to all my scheduled therapy sessions (I know most people don't fall into this category, but just want to put it out there to show you can get approved with a mental illness if it is well managed and you do what is necessary to take care of yourself).

[Gigiandthesleeve25 12]

Mine was mostly to see how much I understood about my surgery and the possible complications and what changes I would have to make. She asked about sources of support, things I could do to cope with stress without eating, and about my psych history - I happen to have bipolar disorder, so she had to go into that and then contacted my psychologist and psychiatrist later to make sure I am compliant with meds and go to all my scheduled therapy sessions (I know most people don't fall into this category, but just want to put it out there to show you can get approved with a mental illness if it is well managed and you do what is necessary to take care of yourself).

My psych eval was similar to yours. I didn't have to do any tests or use a computer. The psychiatrist I had was nice and asked me about my weight and family history. I don't know it is in other states, but the only way to not pass a psych eval is to admit to depression, even if it was in the past.

*insert quote from Oprah or Maya Angelou here*

[katanne 215]

^{My understanding is that if you do have a history depression or another mental illness and are not currently in therapy, they require you to start therapy first before giving you a surgery date. They want a support structure in place for all the changes you'll be going through.}

Edited March 30, 2016 by katanne

[melyssafaye 181]

I had a three hour eval along with a packet I had to fill out and bring to the appointment with me. The psychologist told me that she needed to ask lots of questions but that it wasn't her job to determine if my reasons were "right" enough. That basically she has to determine three things:

1- do I have a clear understanding of the surgery and after care.

2-do I have enough information about lifestyle changes to give full consent

3- am I mentally capable of giving that consent. For example, untreated mental illness, eating disorder or even a mania might be influencing consent.

The eval is so that after the fact you can't say that you weren't given information or didn't understand or that you were not mentally stable at the time. It's a liability thing.

[io0oi 6]

I agree with katane. This happened to me and I was very upset at the time, but in retrospect, I am so glad it happened this way. I was only in my psych eval for 20 minutes. I think she had her decision made up when I told her I was on antidepressants and hadn't seen a therapist in a few years. I had to have 12 weeks of therapy before I could meet with my surgeon. It really was the best thing to happen to me. It has helped me to slow it down a bit and prepare. And now I have a therapist I trust and can discuss any problems before or after surgery I might have. I meet with my surgeon tomorrow and schedule my surgery! Long road, but well worth it!

^{My understanding is that if you do have a history depression or another mental illness and are not currently in therapy, they require you to start therapy first before giving you a surgery date. They want a support structure in place for all the changes you'll be going through.}

[honeybadger 21]

I think each program has their own criteria. Some places will have you see a therapist, while other places are more concerned with the liability aspects.

I have counseling in the past, during a nasty divorce. The surgeon's office gave me a huge book of questions to answer for the psych eval. I have that eval next Friday.

I'm hoping they don't try to make me go back to counseling. I'm all good these days....just sick and tired of being sick and tired and fat.

[MomOf4OhMy 47]

Mine was 20 minutes or so, basically going through my family history, weight loss history and motivations/tools for weight loss. She talked about suicide risks if I didn't lose the weight after surgery, etc. I told her I am on antidepressants and that my family doctor prescribes them. She was fine with it and I got the sign off for surgery.

[Hannahb3997 60]

Mine was really short. Maybe took 25 minutes total. I had a huge 300 question survey in the beginning, which is why they may have scheduled it for so long!

[KELLIEDN 11]

My psych eval was about 2 hours. I was seeing another therapist before my eval, but after I switched to the one who did my eval because I felt so comfortable talking to her and like she "got it" It's really not so bad. She asked me some demographic/pre questions, then she set me up in a room to take a psych eval test, then she asked follow up questions. The questions are basically to make sure you are doing it for the right reasons, have a basic understanding of what you are planning on doing and also to learn a little about you so if some of your questions come out a certain way, they will know why. It's really not bad at all.

Also, my evaluator has herself had weight loss surgery and chose to start doing the evaluations for this very reason. She is awesome. And will be great support afterward too.

Edited March 30, 2016 by KELLIEDN

[jennyde 4]

My psych evaluation was a telephone interview that lasted about 30 minutes

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