Question:
Was anyone required to get a pych. exam?

   — Christine A. (posted on May 25, 2002)

May 25, 2002
From what I can tell everyone has to have a psy eval to see if you have any eating disorders or if you have a mental issue that needs to be corrected. I had to have one also.
   — Ann M.

May 25, 2002
My doc is Dr. Bebord and he requires everyone of his patients to have a psych. I saw the psych one time for about an hour. He asked some family history questions, asked if I had ever taken any anti-depressents and ask questions about if I was knowledgeable about the procedure. When he finished and as I was leaving he told me he thought I would be an excellant canidate. Good luck, just relax. I am waiting for my date.
   — marta B.

May 25, 2002
Nope. Neither my insurance company or surgeon required one. Shelley
   — Shelley.

May 25, 2002
My surgeon required one to "weed out" folks not capable of understanding the LIFETIME decision they were making and to be sure you have an adequate "reality check" mentality. It was two tests, that took about three hours to complete. A week later I met with the psycologist to go over the results of my tests. It was actually kinda fun--the results were very relective of how I am really am...somewhat of an eye opener!!
   — Gina 22 years out

May 25, 2002
I didn't have to have a psych exam. My surgeon has been doing bariatric surgery for over 20 years and he only orders the psych exams if the insurance company requires it. The only testing I was to have pre-op was with the pulmonologist, an EKG, chest x-ray and blood work - not even blood gasses. I did fine with the surgery and I'm doing great post-op.
   — Patty_Butler

May 25, 2002
Yes, I had to have one. When researching for the surgery, I located surgeons that had a psychiatist/therapist connected to them. They gave me a standard 600 million question test and interviewed my husband and I and it was done. They asked all sorts of weird things but yes, I was required to have one. I didn't have insurance - I was a self-pay but the surgeons I checked with all required it. Good luck - just say "yes" to the "have you ever bit off a chickens head question" and you'll be fine. :)
   — Lisa J.

May 25, 2002
Yes, I had to go. My surgeon requires it. He wants to make sure you do not have any mental contradictions to surgery and that you are "mentally sound" to make the decision to have WLS. He also does it to make sure that no one has false hopes about surgery (like its the answers to ALL your problems). No big deal.
   — emilyfink

May 25, 2002
My appt was yesterday and I found out last night that it was recommended that I start some counceling and postpone my surgery, which was coming up this Wednesday. I am trying to convince myself that the doctors know best and it's for my own good, but I am really down about it today.
   — Amy D.