Heightened suicide risk after weight-loss surgery

MM's article is number 2 on Yahoo's most trending searches. It's under weight loss surgeries may lead to depression, suicide. 

I come here for support as well as intelligent conversation. I like to be stimulated into wondering how many of the issues brought up here affect me personally or my family.

MM brought the situation to the forefront. If it wasn't for the drama we probably would have been interested in Nik's response because she speculated that maybe suicidal thoughts come from the fact that we no longer have food to comfort us and we don't replace the comfort with something else. This was very thought provoking to me because lately I've been extremely irritable and want to stuff my face 24/7. I'm sure it's because of the stress I'm feeling with no release. Could that eventually lead down the road to suicidal thoughts? Not for me, because I'm taking Nik's advice and finding professional help. This is the lesson I'm taking away today!

Here's a post from a friend of mine who attempted suicide post WLS. Someone you'd never expect -

http://teresajourneyshome.wordpress.com/2010/09/29/knocking-on-heavens-door-hello-god-can-you-hear-me/

Oh, I felt EVERY word she wrote, it was like if I was writing myself. I am in shock that there are others out there that feel/felt exactly the same way. How am I ever going to find something to replace food??

Thank you very much for posting this.

The reality is this is a SERIOUS issue that shouldn't be ignored! A lot of people already have some emotional and psychological trauma that's happened in life and major life changes LIKE WLS can make these issues MUCH worse! Unfortunately not all Dr's are going to be adamant or overly concerned about the psych aspect of this process. We are ALL affected mentally, emotionally by the WLS process. The drastic changes with our bodies, relationship with food, losing the security blanket will affect EVERY aspect of our lives! Our self image changes and it's not always positive, we trade in one addiction for another, we aren't sure how to cope with the major life changes that are happening and for some it becomes a desperate situation.
I'm VERY grateful that my surgeon required not only the psych eval, but TWO letters from both my psychiatrist and my PCP stating that I am in a mentally good place, that I  understand that reality of what I'm getting into and that I have realistic expectations and am aware of the risks and possible complications. I have mental health issues that have affected my life post op and I'm monitored closely by my Dr's so that a problem can be noticed before I get to a bad place. Not everyone deals with post op life positively and it's something that needs to be addressed and something done to help WLS patients cope better with post op life!