Help w/ Thesis on WLS

Hello Everyone, I am doing my thesis on WLS and body image both pre-op and post-op. I need to ask you all about the psychiatric evaluation that many of you had prior to surgery. Since I had my surgery done in Mx, there was no psych eval given. I need to know the type of questions they had asked prior to surgery, how many times you met with a psychologist and was this an intregal part of the process in order to get the "Okay" for surgery. Do you think the psych eval was important or a waste of time? If you are interested in answering these questions I'd really appreciate the information. Once I get more information and I am prepared to submit the research to my committee, I'll be looking for volunteers/participants. Thanks! Kelli

Hi Kelli, For me I met with the doc for a psych eval one time for approximately 30-45 minutes. It was mandatory for insurance approval. He asked me what diets I have been on previously, he asked about my health and family health. He was interested in finding out why I thought this was my only way and how I was going to change for this to be successful. He asked how long I was over weight and how I felt about it. He asked what my reasons were for wanting surgery. What my goal weight was and if I had family support. I beleive that anyone could give him the answers he was looking for.So I guess I would say it was a waste of time.... I had recently lost a sister she had a brain anuerysm and I had all the same risk factors lining up. I will answer any questions you have.Good luck with your project. ~~hugs and well wishes~~ Chris

I only met w/ the psychologists one time for about 45 minutes. He asked things like why I was having the surgery, what I hoped to gain from it, what kind of relationships did I have with my parents and siblings, what I did for a living, etc. Karla

It was a requirement for my INS also. I agree with the others that it was more a waste of time than anything. I also only met with her one time. She asked all the same questions as the others..she also kept asking how my husband would handle having me being smaller. Would this create a problem in my marriage would he get jealous and so on. Hope this helps you, anna

Thanks ladies! I've heard about the psych evals and I really thought they would touch on the basis of binge eating which is popular among obese people, self esteem issues, body image and so forth...it's a shame they make people go through all of the hoopla and not touch on any of the important factors of being obese and how much of a change we are in store for...again, Thank you and if I have any further questions I'll definately ask again... Kelli