Psych Evaluation

[Buterflymomma 1]

I just had my psych evaluation yesterday evening and my doctor said it will take about a week for him to get an answer to my surgeon. Is this typical? For some reason I thought I would have an answer at the end of the evaluation, but I guess he has to go over my test and do some other things? Anyway, just wondering what the average was for an answer.

My appointment was around 2.5-3 hours. I had to take a 567 question personality test and also fill out another bariatric form. I met with the doctor for about 30-40 minutes after I completed all the necessary paperwork. I am kind of bummed because I was hoping for an answer last night and now I have to wait a week. It's gonna be a long week.

[Xx1jpt5xx 93]

Wow thats a lot. I had like 20 questions max and had like a 20 min conversation.

[NovaLuna 710]

35 minutes ago, Xx1jpt5xx said:

Wow thats a lot. I had like 20 questions max and had like a 20 min conversation.

^This was totally my experience too.

[WInston223322 160]

Just do not tell them you see dead people = I did not even have one but that is alot based on what i have seen here

[momof3_angels 465]

Sounds a lot like my appointment and they said 1-2 weeks to complete the report and send it to surgeon.

Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

[Lily66 425]

My psych eval was an entire 4 hours...only about 20 minutes with the psychologist, the rest MMPI testing and various other instruments to warrant their $995 fee. Insurance covered it 100%. It took about 10 days for surgeon to receive it.

[curvytiff 10]

My appointment was on 3/31st. I had to do a 300 question personality test and watch 5 preop videos prior to my appointment. The videos were between 20 to 40 minutes long and had a quiz for each video. Since we are under quarantine, I did a virtual meeting the day of my appointment, which lasted about 30 or 40 minutes. She then said I would be cleared and give her some time to get the paperwork to my surgeon. Surgeons office confirmed they received paperwork on 4/8th.

[JRT Mom 919]

3 hours ago, WInston223322 said:

Just do not tell them you see dead people = I did not even have one but that is alot based on what i have seen here

My next door neighbor works in the local funeral home so I guess he'd be OK to say this.

My eval was NO questionnaire and a twenty minute chat with the doc. He mostly wanted to know if I really understood the ramifications about what I was about to do. It wasn't like he was trying to talk me out of it, but he kept harping on this being a lifetime change.

He doesn't take insurance but I only paid $150 (I talked them down from $175 by dropping hints that I might go elsewhere) . I did find another one that would bill insurance but the earliest I could get an appointment was December, and my surgery was Nov 20! So it was worth the $150 to get it done.

Sounds like these psychiatrists, just like the bariatric surgeons, are all over the map with their requirements.

[catwoman7 11,211]

my test had MANY questions - I would not be surprised if it was 300 or 500 or however many you or some of the commenters had. Afterward I had to meet with the psychologist - I can't remember how long that went - maybe 30 minutes? I didn't get a "yea" or "nay" to proceed until I had all my interviews - with the surgeon, the psychologist, and the dietitian. At my clinic, the team meets once a week to decide who to approve and who not to - and you had to have met with all those people first before you were even considered for approval.

[Lily66 425]

....and get this! The summary of my psych testing stated that I have an “inordinate fear of large animals”. For $995 I could have told them that. AND, it relates to WLS how?🤪

[New&Improved 1,780]

Aren't all surgeries being postponed

[Buterflymomma 1]

36 minutes ago, Superman84 said:

Aren't all surgeries being postponed

I am at the very beginning of the process and still need to meet with the dietician for 4 months. I am hopeful that they will be scheduling surgeries again once I have met the requirements for my insurance.

[AlwaysCruising 100]

That is standard.

Don’t forget the psychologists need to take the information you gave them, score and analyze the results from any testing you did, synthesize that all together and write up usually a 3 to 4 page report (it’s written separately for each person, not a canned and short report that is dictated to someone). That’s quite a lot of work to be done in an instant. It’s unfortunately something too many people put off to the end and then want immediate results, not meaning you but meaning, it’s not like walking in to a hospital and asking for a chest x-ray (and even that takes time for a report).

To those who find it all laughable, anxiety and other psychological problems can have a huge effect on bariatric surgery. Remember that when a psychological evaluation is done they are going to put the general results in addition to the specific results. It is quite relevant to surgery whether someone has psychosis, too much stress in their life to safely undergo the surgery, is not intellectually able to truly care for themselves, and other such issues. It may seem funny to you, but it can be a life-and-death issue. They are being not required just to irritate you. All the prerequisites are there are a reason, usually a really good reason.

P.S. While some providers have fewer requirements, you risk having your assessment rejected by an insurance company since there are some clear bariatric standards set for for what kind of testing and other procedures should be done. For example, psychological testing is always a necessary per guidelines (test results offer some objective data beyond the Provider’s opinion). Using a provider willing to cut corners or someone without experience with these assessments means you risk wasting a lot of time and money (and having a delay in surgery).

Edited May 4, 2020 by Bezy