Question:
Has anyone been denied because of psychiatric evaluation???

If so what has been your next steps to have it overturned????    — Franchesca (posted on March 28, 2007)

March 28, 2007
Did you use a psych doc RECOMMENDED by your surgeon? Surgeons dont send pre ops to docs who will turn them down without good reason. I ran into this with a pulmonary doc, he flat out refused to approve me, saying surgery would fail.
   — bob-haller

March 28, 2007
Hi Fran, you ask a good question. I did have a friend that had a Psychiatric eval and was turned down. Her doctor insisted to the surgeon that she needed the wls surgery and she got what she asked for. If she is still alive today, she lives in full regret of the surgery, she totally abused the surgery, began to smoke and drink again, and took full advantage of her wls surgery, and it is destroying her body. The Psy eval was right, she should not have had surgery. I don't know you personally or your situation, but if you have issues that they are concernemmend that you deal with those and then take a good look at the surgery again. This could be in your best interest. Hope this helps, and sorry it is not what you want to hear. Thanks. Patricia P.
   — Patricia P

March 29, 2007
Hello, I wasn't denied because of my evaluation. However during the evaluation some issues came up that i needed to deal with beforehand and boy am i ever thankful for the past 6 months of counseling. There are things i have learned about myself that i now know would have hindered my wls I have delt with them and i will continue too go to my therapist for as long as they say this is a great thing learning about yourself and dealing with things that you normally would "put to the back of your head to forget about it" It wasn't easy but it is so reassuring that i know how to be ok with myself and what i have gone through. I will be able to use my tool to the best of my ability now instead of abuse it. And i have a support system that also know what to do. I hope all goes well with you and take this as an adventure, this is a learning time for you... and only for you. no one can take away what you learn about you and thats the greatest feeling of all i think. take care your in my prayers God bless you Paula
   — japaad

March 29, 2007
Dr Friday who approved all my surgeons patients said the rejections were for active Drug, Alcohol, or multiple personality troubles like hannibal lectuer. Some bozo psych docs reject for depression or other troubles which are normal for most considering WLS.
   — bob-haller

March 29, 2007
Not me personally. But someone in the same education classes as me did. She and the psych evaluator - clashed....really didn't get along. She denied her for being on proxac (sp?). HELLO....if that were truly the case MANY women wouldn't be able to have surgery. She went to her PCP and made a case and got it over-turned. The whole thing took about 2 weeks to overcome.
   — jammerz

March 29, 2007
Hi. When I have finished my checklist for the surgery, the only thing I needed was for my psych to release me. Well, he wouldn't. I kept seeing him once a week and attend support groups before he would release me. Needless to say, I don't regret it, because I am much happier and more sociable than before. He finally released me yesterday (3-28-07). I'm so happy because I thought there for a while he wasn't going to release me. Now I'm on my way.
   — Tiffany6538

March 29, 2007
The psych eval is to evaluate your current state and also to screen for a few reasons. First is to be sure that you see this as strictly a tool.... it certainly is NOT a magic wand that is going to make your whole life better. Nor, does the weight loss itself make your life better. Sometimes, it can put more stress on your life. We tend to blame our weight on the things that we can't do, things that we haven't attained, use it as a reason that we haven't done something, blame the problems with relationships on it etc. Using the line, if only I was thin.... well what happens when you are thin and you still have those problems??? Find out why he/she thinks that you are not a good candidate. I would be curious to find out why (or maybe you already know this and didn't choose to share this in your question.) The other thing is to access your current addictiveness. People that don't get counseling and deal with their addictive personalities will only switch addictions from food to drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, shopping , or back to food. Another reason is to assess your ability to comply with the restrictions that you will have to abide by for the rest of your life for this surgery to be successful. I recommend to EVERYONE to get some type of intensive counseling before going into the surgery. You have to figure out why you are using food as a crutch and find some other coping mechanisms. The people who don't develop healthy coping mechanisms will either turn back to food, or pick some other vise to find comfort with. Hope this helps... maybe not what you wanted to hear. You will never regret going through counseling... you will learn lots about yourself. Sure it feels crappy when you are having to dredge all of the painful stuff up, but what a relief when you choose to either discard it, or integrate the experience into who you are... take care and God bless.
   — Kari_K

March 29, 2007
I started to get denied, but then it ended up being that the psychiatrist was not thorough enough with his note to the surgeon. My insurance company wanted a more thorough note from him stating that he felt that I was approved mentally for the surgery. I had issues that came up concerning being molested as a little girl, and they wanted to sure I had medical clearance from this doc. All turned out and I have been approved today in fact.
   — barbara g.