For those who've lived through it…. how did it go? Whats it like?

Mine was a several hundred multiple choice and true/false questions. Some of them were hilarious like "I would like to be a florist" True or False, others asked about my mental state, if I had been suicidal , my drinking and illicit drug use past, and present, history of depression, etc etc. Then I met with the psych to discuss the mental aspect of body changes, dietary changes, and expectations. I was cleared, and reading the report after was pretty funny. It was close to accurate with the exception it apparently thought I was a bit of an introvert which is totally wrong, and that I enjoyed reading novels, and good romantic stories. BIG wrong on that one, if it's not Better HOme and Gardens or Cosmo, I'm not reading it. For the most part, it is there to help gauge your compliance level, to make sure you realize what you are getting yourself into, and to identify any issues that you might have with food. If you're an emotional or stress eater, it's good to get some ideas on other coping mechanisms to use post-op since binging really isn't an option.

Overall, it was no biggie. My second psych eval for my revision was mainly because my husband was deployed and my surgeon wanted to ensure that I wasn't overly stressed by his absence.

For those who've lived through it…. how did it go? Whats it like?

Great question! Mine is on the 14th and I'm wondering too.

Hi, I just did mine on the 22nd of Nov. I thought it was somewhat a joke and here's why. Mainly I was asked my basic info like where were you born....how many children...how many siblings.....married or not. Then asked it if any mental illnes in family....ever atttempted sucide. Oh and I question about weight....have I been overweight all my life? That's it....10 mins tops!!! Tracy

I had my evaluation a couple weeks ago. I was in there for about 2 & 1/2 hours. At first he just asked me questions about my life and family. Like how many kids, how's my relationship with my family, do they support my decision. Then he asked questions about "what makes you overeat?" And then he asked about the suicidal questions. I took a 300 page questionaire that was kind of weird. It had questions on there like "I've borrowed money from someone knowing I would not pay it back" True or False? or "I like my thighs" True or False? lol it was honestly just really weird.

This is the question I was curious about too. The support group I went to covered it a little, said there were many silly questions and a lot of questions that were reworded.

One lady mentioned one question asking if she was happy with her life, she said yes. Another question asked if she could go back if there was anything she could change. She said yes. The pysch questioned her on it. Acted as though a person couldnt possibly be happy in their life if there was something in the past they wish they could have changed.

Hm, I had to fill out a multiple choice questionairre that had a lot of questions. This part was kind of a blur. I think the basic gist was to make sure we wouldn't totally freak out or had severe eating disorders. The second part was an intereview, which was really kind of helpful. The interview seemed to basically be about what resources I had in place to support me, and whether my expectations of the surgery were realistic.

Okay reading this can I just say how happy I am that my eval did not include one single questionairre. It lasted about 2.5 hours, and the psych took notes on everything. She asked about my family upbringing, siblings, husband, children, parents, etc. She asked the obvious questions about eating disorders, any history of depression, or taking any meds, etc.

The only time I got choked up was when I started talking about my feelings about sharing my surgery plan with my two young daugters ages 8 and 9. I never want this for them...of course, but she was very realistic and said no matter what I do, I should just continue to be a healthy role model and they will have their own ups and downs, but basically I cannot prevent them from having their own struggle. :tsk:

Overall I would say it was a very good eval and I liked the lady. The only thing I didn't like was her saying that maintaining her weight was easy for her (she did stress that) "calories in and calories burned" ugh...if only it could always be that easy.

It's funny you ask about this. My psych evaluation was a joke! I was all prepared to bare my soul and discuss my life as an obese person and why I decided it was time to have surgery. It was nothing like this.

I walked into the office.They staff handed me about a 50 page questionnaire that took 45 minutes just to complete. Once I am done, the doctor walks in and introduces himself. He glances (not reads) at my answers and says, you seem pretty stable. Does your husband support this decision. I say yes. He says, well you look fine, I will put a report together and submit it to your doctor. I was like, that's it? No more questions? No discussing my eating history, family history??? I felt robbed! On the other hand, I was glad the results didn't hinder my approval process, so I just said Thank you and walked out!

You will be just fine!

For those who've lived through it…. how did it go? Whats it like?

Mine was about 2 1/2 hours long, the first hour was talking to a shrink and telling her about my history and to see how I have coped with things of my past and then the last 1 hr in a half was answering 13 pages of questions! It was a total of almost 400 questions and it was basically the same 5 questions rephrased over and over and over again. And they weren’t true/false questions either. I had to answer them as: very wrong, sometimes wrong, sometimes right, very right.

You'll do great, don't worry about it!!!

Seems like some doctors treat this as a hurdle that needs to be jumped, and others treat it seriously.

My evaluation took about 1 1/2 hours. When I got there I first filled out some paperwork (typical for first visit with a doctor) and then a short (front and back) questionnaire which, while I can't remember specific questions, was a very basic level of psych evaluation type questions like how happy you are, if you've ever suffered depression, attempted suicide, on medications, etc.

Once in with the doctor I would say it was 60% trying to 'get in my head' and the other 40% was talking about post-op stuff. She started off asking basic questions about me, stuff like "ever suffered depression, ever tried to commit suicide, how are people around you handling your decision to do this (if they even know about it), ever done drugs, etc..." Also asked stuff like 'tell me three things you like about yourself", 'three things you dislike about yourself', 'three things you want to do when you've lost weight', etc. (And in hindsight I think how *long* it takes you to answers those questions are as telling as the answers themselves.) Then she moved on to childhood stuff, since I have always been heavy I think she was probing to see if there was something in my childhood that led to my always being overweight. Finally she moved on to post-op stuff which was no longer an evaluation but a sort of helpful discussion about what things might be like for you when you've lost 100+ pounds and how to deal with them mentally. People who never paid attention to you will suddenly give you more attention. Strangers are more likely to interact with you. People generally will treat you differently... and also to make sure you mentally 'lose weight' along with your body. She mentioned many people will lose weight quickly but their mind is still that of a fat person, meaning they don't see themselves as skinny as they really are, or they are still a bit reserved and introverted (if that's how they coped with being fat previously) and generally have a 'defensive shield' set up around them, etc. Also touched on cross addictions and being ok with your new body - because while you may now say "I hate my fat belly", you could transfer that self-loathing to 'I hate my flabby loose skin'... In general I'm glad I had to do it and I'm glad the requirement was taken seriously by my surgeon and the Psychologist. I think it was really helpful and gave me some stuff to think about and keep in mind on my journey.

I really feel like it's an important part of the process, and it kind of bums me out that some doctors just have you fill out a questionnaire. For one thing, a big part of this is mental. You can find ways to overeat with the sleeve or any weight loss surgery, and you should be prepared for that. And there are people who have severe eating disorders who should get a handle on their issues before they attempt surgery (I am not saying they can't do it, but bingeing and purging can be life-threatening with the sleeve and you really want a support system in place if these are your issues), and that is a serious issue that should be looked at. I feel really lucky that the psych. I met with really tried to help prepare me mentally for the changes and what kind of "head" work would be required of me.

Mine was a simple one.....asked a few questions about support system basically and that was it. I thought, "I paid $300 for a 6 minute visit....nice job you have Mr. Psychologist"

I'm getting nervous too. My psych evaluation is tomorrow to. 12/10. Not sure what to expect either. I did get a nice little questionaire in the mail from UHC to fill out and take to the evaluation. I just chuckled when I read some of the questions. But I will fill it out when I get there. Will let everyone know how it goes. I'm sure it will be fine.

Okay had my "eval" today. Have to go back and do the MMPI test. The therapist seemed harmless and he was informative. So no worries. I feel confident that this will be okay. We did touch on a few things like how he has worked with my surgeon with the evals and that I have nothing to be concerned with. So my heart in the pit of my stomach returned to normal. As soon as I have my results I will let everyone know. (I was all uptight and worried for nothing) LOL. Everyone have a great weekend!

My Psych Eval is this Tuesday at 6:30 am. I can't believe it is that early! I am a wee bit nervous. Can't decide if I should take the whole day off work or try to make it to work in time. I am a teacher and school starts at 8. A lot of you said it was 2 1/2 hours long. They told me I should be out by 7:30, since I am the first patient of the day! Hmmm what to do!? If I am done by 7:30, I could make it to school by 8.

Next Friday is my upper G I and then I am all DONE with all pre-op requirements! Yay! I am extremely nervous about the UGI. I hope I can get the Barium down. I also, hope it isn't a lot. I just have no idea about it. This is all happening fast. My very 1st appt. was the end of October, just to make sure it was really what I wanted to do and the next thing you know, I am going full speed ahead!