Question:
Where can I get the 50 questions list that the psycholoigist will ask?

Is there a book, web-site or anything I can get my hands on that list these 50 question the psycholoigist ask most clients to fill out?    — Janet L. (posted on June 30, 2005)

June 29, 2005
I am guessing not. My psychologist didn't ask me any questions...I had 2 different batteries or tests that I took and then we discussed some potential pitfalls that were normal concerns. Coming from this field, my guess is that any psychologist worth the weight of his or her tie would see right through practiced answers. You will tend to answer to quick or be too confident. This procedure complicates your life more than you will ever know. If you try to skate around any of the steps, I wouldn't suggest it to be this one. The fact that you are worried about it probably indicates that this will be very helpful for you. God's blessings to you! Dave open:4-15-05:500:393
   — David B.

June 29, 2005
I did not have a psych eval preop, so I can't directly answer your question. However, It is only now almost 3 years later that I am addressing the issues that made me fat. It would have been so much better and less painful in every way if I had dealt with it earlier. I suggest that you take advantage of this opportunity to get as much out of it as possible preop so you can avoid some of the issues so many of us deal with post op. Be open and honest and realistic with the psychologist. You don't have to have all the answers but an understanding of the surgery and ALL tha it entails.
   — **willow**

June 30, 2005
My evaluation was conducted by a psycologist who had had an open rny 2 years prior. I felt very lucky to be evaluated by her. She discussed the surgery and her recovery very openly with me. She did a battery of clinical tests and an extensive interview. When I got the ok to have the surgery I felt very confident that I had made the right decision. It is very important that you answer everything honestly and consider counseling prior to your surgery and during the first year after. It really helped. Best of wishes to you!
   — debmi

June 30, 2005
Hi Janet, I actually went to 2 different psych evals. The first psych eval I went to was an extensive one hour interview....then at least written 50 questions that I had to fill out while sitting in the waiting room. The questions were pretty much repetitive, repeating the same group of questions in a different way. Most of the questions were to see if you were nuts.....for example...."I have a best friend that no one sees but me"....."I hear voices in my head"....."I have traveled by plane across the Atlantic Ocean over a hundred times in the last year"....."I have been on the cover of several popular magazines in the last few months"....and several questions about your belief in God....worded several different ways. There were multiple choice answers....I had to answer the questions with this is always me...sometimes me...never me....etc. I had asked before I ever went to the office what the psych eval would cost and was told the interview was about an hour and it is $150 an hour. After taking the test....I found out it would cost $350 to have the written test sent off and "analyzed" by an independent company....as well as having to pay $150 an hour for the psychologist....which not only included the time (1 hour) we talked in the office...but the 2 hours it would take for her to type up a report. NONE of this was told to me up front. When I found out how much it was going to cost me (yes they should have told me....but I didn't think to ask about a TOTAL....because they knew I needed the test only for bariatric surgery...I told them before I went)....I told the psychologist office to forget it...because I was not going to pay all of that money....and I felt like I had been VERY misled. Even by going back to my bariatric doctor's office and paying $125 for a second psych eval....it was still cheaper than paying for the full report at the first psych office. My bariatric doctor's office offered a psych eval at their office.....but the psychologist that came there was not covered by my insurance. Their eval (complete) was $125. The 1st psych office I went to was covered by my insurance.....but I later found out that I had a $450 deductible...so I would have ended up paying the whole thing anyway.....and should have just gone to my bariatric doctor's office and paid their psychologist the $125. The total interview at the second psych eval was about 45 minutes....no long tests....and everything I would be going through emotionally before during and after the rny was explained to me by the psychologist. I asked my bariatric doctor's office why there was such a difference in psych evals and costs between the 2 psych visits, and was told some psych doctors add the extra (but unnecessary) long tests to pad their bill....and most insurance companies don't require the long tests in order to get approved for surgery. Check with your doctor and insurance company to see what they require as far as a psych test in order to get approved. You may not need the LONG and expensive test. My point is....ASK UP FRONT what the TOTAL cost of the psych eval will be......and find out what is required to get approved for the wls before you spend a lot of money you may not have to spend. I am waiting on approval now...and hope to have my surgery sometime in August or the first part of September. Good luck to you....I hope this helps!!
   — Melannie W.

July 1, 2005

   — AmandaLeigh =)