What my therapist wrote on my psych eval for insurance

[lovePINK 31]

I had my psych eval a few wks ago and I just went to pick up the paperwork that she had to fill out. On my evaluation she put that I was depresssed, I had low self esteem, bad relationship with my parents and that I was in an abusive relationship. She also put that I was seen in the outpatient clinic 5x before asking her to do my psych eval for surgery. She wrote that I didn't seem motivated (depression) but was motivated to change with surgery. I'm not on any meds, non suicidal, never been hospitalized etc. I'm like freaking out because it looks like I'm a horrible canidate for surgery from the things that she wrote. I kinda regret going to my therapist and I wish I would've went with the one at the Bariatric center.

[mamamckinzie 92]

Did any of the assesments ring true? Are you in an abusive relationship? Outside of the surgery factor what is your reaction to the overall evaluation?

[lovePINK 31]

She was writing down things that we didn't even talk about during that session. All the things she wrote was from previous therapy sessions when I was under a lot of stress before I even considered surgery. I was in an abusive relationship. I don't always get along with my parents but everyone is supportive of me getting this surgery. She told me she thought I was mentally prepared but didn't even write it on the paper. She left It blank...

[SouthernSleever 228]

I don't think any of those things will have an effect on your surgery but feel free to give her a call and express your feelings. Afterall this is YOUR life and if she isn't seeing something clearly I would show her I have the self esteem to say something about it.

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,281]

Do you HAVE to use her evaluation? Maybe you can still go with the Bariatric Center's psych eval. I remember when having to do mine, I was the one who delivered the eval to all necessary.

If it has already been entered, maybe if it does affect the outcome of the decision for your surgery you can get a second opinion?

You might want to find out about that.

[FloraBama Girl 116]

I used a therapist not in the bariatric group also and got the same kind of evaluation. I didn't recognize the person she was writing about, the only parts of the evaluation that were true was the facts she took from me. My paperwork has been submitted to insurance, so I will see if this has any bearing on getting an approval. Some of these therapists have more issues than their patients.

[CT Fats 82]

Now Im nervous. I didn't even see my eval, she just told me that she was recommending me for the surgery. What if she wrote all types of psycho-babble about me? All well there is always another doc.

[lovePINK 31]

I just talked to my insurance coordinator and she's sending me out a new form I'm going to re-do it with the psychologist the Bariatric center recommends. I was already worried about getting denied by insurance for my weight fluctuating between 39 and 40 BMI I don't need the added stress from my psych eval.

[FloraBama Girl 116]

If we are 'crazy' would we be trying to improve our lifes by persuing this surgery. I think it matters more if you have a eating disorder that is not under control. There are all things that just go along with being overweight and these skinny therapists have no clue what is normal or not.

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,281]

I just talked to my insurance coordinator and she's sending me out a new form I'm going to re-do it with the psychologist the Bariatric center recommends. I was already worried about getting denied by insurance for my weight fluctuating between 39 and 40 BMI I don't need the added stress from my psych eval.

Glad to hear it! Keep us updated...

[FloraBama Girl 116]

I will let eveyone know I get approved, that way we can gage how important what is contained in that report.

[Anakin Jay 39]

I got really lucky with my psych eval. The first thing the guy said was "A lot of people get nervous when they think they're coming here and I get to decide if they can have surgery. In reality, my job is to assess if you are ready for surgery as you are, or if you will need help overcoming the mental and emotional blockades that come along with this."

Our entire session (about an hour) was mostly spent talking about who I had to support me, and who I could turn to. I think the biggest part of it, was him making sure I realized that I was without a doubt going to lose "friends" over this. People will become jealous and spiteful over my success, and if those friends were people I depended on so much that I couldn't live without them, then he would have wanted me to come back in on a regular basis to make sure I was making the adjustment to losing my support system, and creating a new one.

Fortunately, he felt my support system, and self reliance, were both really good, and he didn't see a need for any further work.

[Roseib 13]

Yes what jay said. Also Usually they just want to make sure you understand you have to make behavioral changes and that surgery is just a tool not magic bullet. They want to be sure you have realistic expectations for what surgery will do (e.g. won't bring world peace) and that you have plan for how to react to stressors without using food and so on. I have cyclical depressions and also anxiety. Freely admitted it but said I'm on medication abd doing well. Being depressed per se shouldn't prevent surgery. They just want to be sure its being treated because it could affect outcomes of surgery if untreated.

[Roseib 13]

Yes what jay said. Also Usually they just want to make sure you understand you have to make behavioral changes and that surgery is just a tool not magic bullet. They want to be sure you have realistic expectations for what surgery will do (e.g. won't bring world peace) and that you have plan for how to react to stressors without using food and so on. I have cyclical depressions and also anxiety. Freely admitted it but said I'm on medication abd doing well. Being depressed per se shouldn't prevent surgery. They just want to be sure its being treated because it could affect outcomes of surgery if untreated. Also established I had great support group of friends abd co-workers as single with very little family left and far away. I imagine the bariatric center pyschologist will focus more on these issues.

[Guest Rosalind]

I know sometimes you think you are being steered to go to certain people by your bariatric surgeon but they know who will write what you need to get approved. I had a situation where I had to pay out of pocket for my nutritionist. I was pretty upset about it because I wanted insurance to pay for it. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place because I needed a nutritionist that was familiar with bariatric surgery. If I had gotten one who didn't, I would have had to pay twice anyway!

My doc requires that you go to his psych team because he says he needs to be confident that his patients won't go crazy after surgery. He had it happen before!

I didn't want to risk not getting approved for $125.