Before you go to the Consultation: How I avoided a psych eval

Recently there has been a few posts about the delays to surgery because of psych evals. Most problems seem to be because of biased doctors who don't understand the necessity of WLS or are clouded by erroneous and antiquated information about the subject. All those who have had this obstacle to conquer before surgery have my compassion. I am one of the few that I know of that was NOT referred for an psych eval, and I am wondering if it was simply because my insurance didn't require it, or if it was how I interviewed in the initial consultation. At the consultation with my surgeon, I was asked why I wanted to have this surgery and what three things I would do when I lose weight. All of my answers centered around health and activity level - I never mentioned anything about appearance or relationships. I do believe this was a pivotal point for me that made the eval unnecessary. Of course, by the time I went in for the consult, I was well-informed, had realistic expectations of the surgery, recovery and long-term results and comfortable with my decision. Certainly there are some people that do need to be evaluated, but there are so many of us that have gone through this process unnecessarily that I just wanted to share my experience to see if it would help anyone avoid additional expense and delays. After all, just because we are obese, doesn't mean we are emotionally or mentally challenged and can't make our own decisions! Also, I would suggest that if anyone is referred for a pysch eval, ask the WLS surgeon to recommend a WLS-friendly doc. A good surgeon should be working with someone reputable.

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