What is the psyche eval like?

I am wondering/worried about the psyche eval. Like, can I fail it? I've visited numerous shrinks in my life (for criminal activities, anger, panic, court ordered, etc.) and according to all of them I am NOT crazy, but personally I think they are because I am convinced beyond a doubt I am 100% crazy.

What sort of questions? Can I fail it? Should I prepare myself to lie (no, they wont be able to tell, I am that good) or just go full on honest?

It's not to diagnose your insanity etc lol, it's to determine whether you will be compliant, whether you know what surgery entails, your relationship to food and whether any mental illness is being treated.

It's a good thing because the head work following this surgery is way harder than the diet changes. Tell the truth, many many people here go to therapy before, during and after surgery. It's a gift to yourself

In addition to what Kim said, mine also included questions that were geared toward finding out if I had a good support network and if I knew what I was getting into or if I was expecting WLS to be a magic bullet.

I have zero support. Family is against me doing this. No friends (because I am an asshole, always on guard). But it's good to know, I can easily bypass that question and make it believeable.

I know it's not a magic bullet. I know it's a good crutch that "can" pave the way. Not magic. Thanks for input :)

Why zero support? Why are they against it? Fear of the unknown?

I cannot begin to imagine tackling this LIFETIME journey, without support

These all sound like things you should work on, but that would require a) being honest with a therapist and the people in your life and b) being willing to change. I don't get the feeling that you're interested in doing either because you enjoy being a self-described asshole/alpha male.

Losing weight is not going to fix your life.

I agree with what Kim and Gwen said. In addition, the evaluating psychologist will want you to express in some manner that WLS is a means to the end you desire and not the goal, itself. In other words, it serves as a tool to reach your goal of weight loss and maintaining that loss, but only if you use it properly.

My psych evaluation was a little more complicated than a "typical" one because I have a long history of severe depression that is treated with multiple medications and I also have a remote history of substance abuse. Besides my interview with the evaluating psychologist, it also involved a conference between the evaluating psychologist and my psychiatrist. I then had to have a follow-up phone call with the evaluating psychologist.

Since I was honest with both my psychiatrist (over many years) and the evaluating psychologist, there was no problem being approved for bariatric surgery from a psychological point of view. It just added a few weeks to my pre-op time which was of no consequence in the long run.

The fact that I had already spent a long time talking about weight loss with my psychiatrist, discussing the possible reasons for previous weight loss failures with him as they were happening, and finally, exploring my thoughts and feelings about WLS with him prior to starting my WLS journey was extremely helpful to me. It also made me very comfortable discussing all of these aspects of my current weight and potential weight loss with the evaluating psychologist.

As an aside, I don't care how great a liar you think you are, lying at the psychology evaluation is of no benefit to you. If "passing" the psychology evaluation is just another "notch in your belt" to "beat the system" and get approved for WLS, you will be in for a rude awakening after your bariatric surgery. The immediate post-op work losing weight after WLS is much harder than I think most well-prepared people think it will be. And from what I have heard from the veterans who are many years post-op, maintenance is exquisitely more complicated and requires much self-discipline.

So where do you think you will get, FatManTX832 if you try and lie your way through the pre-op psychology evaluation?

---Joyce

THIS !!!!

Was about to say this when I saw you did. Lying to your psychologist will only be self-sabotage.

I have extensive history with shrinks, meds, therapists, abuse of every substance, etc. This may be a little more detailed eval than normal. Not sure I should confess to all that, but I am thinking it's all in my medical records anyway, just come clean. Thanks for heads up. Also had a few stays at psyche hospitals where I was "free to go at any time" yet when I wanted to leave, they made a stin****il I went Hulk and tried to leave then I was introduced to "Syraquil" and that's when crap hit the fan. That was my last stay, I used to fake taking the medication, then talked to lawyer who got me out. When I did get out, I did some illegal stuff and got caught (had people follow nurse and main doctor, had other people freak them out, threats, etc.) But I don't do that any more. I swear.

BS'ing my way throuogh the eval shouldn't be a problem (but I won't, seems basic). I can tho. One doctor who I left used to keep contact with me just to get a view inside my head because I was unique (in a bad bad way). But becoming disabled due to weight, all the meds I "was on" and some tragic events, I am no longer that person. I cut myself off from my old friends who would abuse my abilities, thoughts, etc. and the need to be that person no longer exists. Been 10+ years since. Yes, it was a choice to do those things, not natural which is what made my psyche doctors so interested. "Why be that person?" My answer was because I can and nobody can take my place.

I am well prepared for this surgery. I know it's a crutch to help me do the hard work. I lost over 100lbs a few times before, and I was bigger than I am now. But now being 50 years old, knees, ankles, etc. don't allow me to walk 1/8th of a mile, I can't do what I used to. I know it's a hard long road and honestly what choice do I have? I don't know or see any 400lb men 65+ walking around? I got fun grandkids now and I want to chase them, drive them to school, etc. I can't. Plus I don't want to be creamated when I die. I want to go in a wall next to family friends. Family plot don't have double size wall holes, so, I need to be normal size if I want to be with family. Not that it matters mind you, I wont know. But if I get creamatedI can't take part in zombie apacolyse.