Pre-op Psychiatrist clearance didn't go so well

Hi all,

This is my first post on this board as I've only posted on the VSG forum before.

I'm getting my VSG on 10/25 (9 days!). I had my required pre-op psychiatry clearance yesterday and got some not so great news.

The doc ended the session by telling me "I have good news and bad news: I'm clearing you for surgery, but I don't think you'll be successful at losing weight w/ it". He proceeded to tell me that because I am "unstructured" and adult ADHD I won't be able to follow the restrictions.  Yet he gave me no helpful tools or ideas how I could better follow the restrictions. He also told me that I have "horrible" self-esteem.

 Obviously no one gets to 300 pounds without having some self-esteem issues, that was no news to me. But my problem is this: how is telling a person w/ already low self-esteem that you think they will fail helpful!?

Going into this I was actually confident in myself that I could do this, but he had me in tears after I left his office. He convinced my I would fail (thanks doc!). But now I'm just so angry at him for making me feel that way that I'm using it to work even harder and prove him wrong!

Sorry, just had to vent. Thanks for listening.

I'm sorry that happend. I also have adult ADHD. Impulse control issues are a symptom of ADHD and can become an issue after surgery if you don't treat it.  Are you in any treatment for ADHD?

Most of us have low self esteem going in to wls. It takes a long time to work on that.

All the best, Yehuda :-)

I think you may want to talk to a different psychiatrist. Call Tara at Dr. C's office. She's fantastic and can help you with your emotions about what that last Dr. told you. That guy sounds like he's setting you up for failure. It was very inappropriate. I don't understand why he would clear you for surgery if he didn't think you would succeed. That just doesn't make any sense.

Jen

I had a psych evaluation that went something like this. I think some of them are a little devious - they tell you that you might/probably will fail, and then they observe your reaction. If you get overly depressed and agree with them, they are going to think you aren't ready. If you end up getting angry and telling them that they are wrong, they'll then agree with you.

Think about it - in all other instances in which you might have talked to a therapist, how many of them have told you that you are going to fail at something? "Oh, you're feeling depressed? We can talk, but I think you're hopeless!" You never hear that, and so when they tell you something like that, you have to think that they are trying to provoke some sort of reaction out of you.

Out of experience, IF you're submitting to insurance, they may halt the surgery over a psych eval like that. If that happens, talk to the psych IMMEDIATELY - otherwise, your insurance company may make you wait for several months.

and how do you have low self esteem if you're setting out to prove him wrong? It must not be THAT low :)

 Sounds like your Psych Dr suffers from a severe case of being a dick, and that's my professional opinion.  He should have asked for a follow up appointment or offered advise on how to better manage your ADHD.
I'm sorry you had such a horrible experience and wish you the best of luck in your weight loss journey.

Sorry to hear it went so badly. That had to have been really hard. I have to question the ethics of someone who would clear you for surgery but say they don't believe you'll succeed. I guess that's like saying you're mentally sound enough to make the decision to have it but not much more. Who knows?  Either way, if you know you can do it, don't listen to him! You've got a big adventure and battle ahead and you have to believe in yourself.  Think of how great it'll be to walk into his office 6 months from now and prove him wrong. And then report him to some kind of ethics committee.

i know its been a bit since you posted, but i had a HORRIBLE experience with my psychiatric clearance as well. I am scheduled for nov 16. I have been under the care of a psychiatrist for over 10 years, i am very aware of my mental health and the things that 'set me off'. i have a dx of depression..... the woman i saw for my testing basically said i am a poor candidate for surgery, she thinks i need 15 - 20 therapy sessions before i could go thru with it. I was so mad b/c my psychiatrist has seen me for 5 years and im doing well, this lady sees me for 3 hrs and she makes me feel like a nut case! i went to a therapist twice and she cleared me.... said she has no idea what the evaluation lady was talking about...... by far the worst thing about this process!