Mental Illness & WLS

[TiggerFan72 10]

So it looks as if my 15 years of waiting is over..I finally have insurance that covers Sleeve Surgery.

I have Mental Illness. I'm diagnosed with Anxiety, Depression, and Borderline Personality Disorder. I'm concerned about getting clearance from my psychiatrist (I've just became her patient 3 mths ago).

Is there anyone on here who has been diagnosed with Mental Illness and has/had difficulty for surgery clearance?

Renea in AL

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[Kumbaice 44]

Anxiety depression , no issues

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[WLSResources/ClothingExch 3,444]

The purpose of getting clearance or having a "psychological evaluation," required by most insurance plans and some surgeons, is to show that:

- you understand the risks of surgery (every surgery has risks, by the way)

- that you understand that surgery doesn't guarantee weight loss, but rather is a tool to aid you in eating properly to lose weight

- that you're capable of understanding guidelines for eating properly and following other instructions from the surgeon and others in the practice, e.g., the RD

- if your insurance plan is aware that you're in treatment for mental illness, it wants to know that your meds do what you want and need of them, i.e., that you're stable and functioning

That's the extent of what I'm able to say right now. I'm not a medical or mental health professional, nor do I work in a surgery practice of insurance company.

P.S. Lots of people on the site talk about having to fill in pages and pages of questionnaires for an evaluation with a psychologist to whom they're referred by their surgery practices. It seems a load of horsepucky, a new "industry" mining the pockets of patients. A few people have mentioned that the surgery offices insist that they see the psychologists they refer them to. If this happens to you, be firm. I hope some of the site members stop in here to tell you more.

Nothing to get nervous about unless and until something happens that is nervous-making.

Edited December 12, 2016 by WLSResources/ClothingExch

[justabitunique 29]

So it looks as if my 15 years of waiting is over..I finally have insurance that covers Sleeve Surgery.

I have Mental Illness. I'm diagnosed with Anxiety, Depression, and Borderline Personality Disorder. I'm concerned about getting clearance from my psychiatrist (I've just became her patient 3 mths ago).

Is there anyone on here who has been diagnosed with Mental Illness and has/had difficulty for surgery clearance?

Renea in AL

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I have anxiety and depression and was cleared to have surgery. I saw someone other than my regular therapist though. Maybe that's an option for you?

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[lunnah 101]

I have anxiety and depression was also cleared for the surgery. My psychiatrist just had to adjust my meds after surgery.

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[Charli3baltimor3 27]

I have anxiety and depression. For my psychological evaluation the therapist cleared me but her supervisor made me have mandatory therapy for 12 sessions with a re-evaluation. She sited that I didn't handle stress well and well I had to laugh. They told me the process is to make sure either succeed and not let a stressful moment take over. It was my "fuck it" attitude that flagged me. I was cleared and now have thr date of 12/27.

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[MaisyDae 8]

I was cleared by my psychiatrist and I have depression, anxiety, and PTSD.

What WLSResourses/ClothingExch said is exactly why they ask for clearance. It's not about what illness you have, it's about your ability to understand the potential risks & gains of surgery, if you have the capacity to understand & follow the directions, etc. As long as your mental illness(es) don't interfere with these, you will be cleared in a jiffy. ????

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[Frenchie1977 262]

I have severe depression and a severe anxiety disorder with PTSD, I was cleared for surgery, I also have a long history of being hospitalized for my conditions. But it ha been nearly two years since I was hospitalized and I have been through a ton of therapy, the psychologist just wanted to see that I was now stable on my Meds and not being hospitalized all the time and he asked for a letter of recommendation from my psychiatrist. But I had my surgery last Monday dec 5

[TiggerFan72 10]

I have severe depression and a severe anxiety disorder with PTSD, I was cleared for surgery, I also have a long history of being hospitalized for my conditions. But it ha been nearly two years since I was hospitalized and I have been through a ton of therapy, the psychologist just wanted to see that I was now stable on my Meds and not being hospitalized all the time and he asked for a letter of recommendation from my psychiatrist. But I had my surgery last Monday dec 5

Thanks for sharing. I too have been hospitalized and partial-hospitalized and frankly I thought that would be a hiccup.

????Renea in AL

[Babbs 14,681]

I've suffered from depression and have been medicated for it my entire adult life. At my psych eval, he would ask me questions, and this is how I would answer:

Psychologist: Do you struggle with depression/anxiety?

Me: Not when I'm medicated.

Psychologist: Do you have feelings of dread, obsessive thoughts, etc?

Me: Not when I'm medicated.

I passed with flying colors.

PS: It's the darnedest thing, but since I've had surgery over 2 years ago, I have not needed medication for depression. I still struggle with it periodically, but what's different is I can come out of it, where I couldn't before. I don't know if the surgery has changed the chemistry in my brain or what?

Weird, hu?

[DaleCruse 756]

These are all good questions. Please talk with your psychiatrist about them. Consider framing the discussion as you wanting to have surgery and asking that person how they can help you succeed. Discussing it that way puts the onus on your psychiatrist to help you rather than you asking that person if it's okay to have the surgery. It's a subtle distinction and I hope it serves you well! Let us know how it goes!

[Kimba Maria Wiggins 81]

I have PTSD, Anxiety, Depression and Bipolar disorder and I passed my psych eval. I've been under treatment for my mental illnesses for a year and it's been a year since I've been hospitalized. I also have been hospitalized many times in the past due to my illness and I've been in partial-hospitalization (aka Partial) twice. I totally understood what I was getting into...and almost backed out of the process twice, but now I'm glad I didn't.

Edited December 14, 2016 by Kimba Marie Angelina Wiggins

[Jamie228 15]

So it looks as if my 15 years of waiting is over..I finally have insurance that covers Sleeve Surgery.

I have Mental Illness. I'm diagnosed with Anxiety, Depression, and Borderline Personality Disorder. I'm concerned about getting clearance from my psychiatrist (I've just became her patient 3 mths ago).

Is there anyone on here who has been diagnosed with Mental Illness and has/had difficulty for surgery clearance?

Renea in AL

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I have mental illness and was cleared just fine. As long as you're not having delusions, you should be cleared. My struggle now (four days post-op) is drinking my meds.... way nastier than you would imagine!

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[hdsjourney 48]

Severe Anxiety, no issues with the psyc. Good luck !!

Edited December 14, 2016 by hdsjourney

[TiggerFan72 10]

Thank u so much...I get nervous and wouldn't have thought to say "without my meds".

????Renea in AL