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Annoying Psych Eval

Welp....I had my psych eval on Monday. I don't even know what to think. She spoke like I was a good candidate for VSG and that I'm going into it for the right reasons. At one point she asked if I grew up in an abusive home, I said yes. Then she asked who the aggressor was. I said my mom. And that is the only time my mom was mentioned; well other than asking if we have a good relationship now; which we do. At the end of the interview she told me that I needed to 'stop listenening to my mom's voice' and 'stop her voice from telling me I'm not good enough and that I don't deserve to be happy.' Then she said that she was withholding her approval until after my personal counselor tells her that I am ready. This seems ludicrous to me. First of all, we didn't delve into my past with my mom, I never cried or indicated that my mom's voice was in my head. Secondly, is she trying to ruin my relationship with my counselor? Sheesh.

When I told my counselor what she said, she about fell out of her chair; and told me that that she has no intention of approving or disapproving my decision; and that it is my decision. She said that her job is to make sure that I am doing it for the right reasons; and that I don't have any 'pie in the sky' ideas of what this surgery will do for me.

So now I'm just waiting to see if the evaluator contacts my counselor. This is just too annoying!

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  • I was denied for 2 years of drug abuse and for being a hippy ....in the 60's ...which freaked out the Psych I guess. Clean ever since. No longer a hippy, I'm a Tea Party Republican now. My surgeon

  • YAY! Me too. Huzzah! I grew up with a mom who was Borderline and OCD. Think I mentioned that? She asked: "How was your childhood?" I said out loud: "Pretty dead normal..." and finished in my head: "

  • That is exactly how to handle it. Remember, Psychs look for weird, so don't be. Tap into your best oatmeal self, young thespian; you're Hepburn, you're Pacino!

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I was denied for 2 years of drug abuse and for being a hippy ....in the 60's ...which freaked out the Psych I guess. Clean ever since. No longer a hippy, I'm a Tea Party Republican now. :rolleyes:

My surgeon was mad, sent a letter right off and got me approved.

Some are good but some Psychs need Psychs.

  • Author

I'm a Tea Party Republican now. :rolleyes:

Hehe awesome. :) I have a feeling it's going to work out fine, but the 'meantime' is hard. I hate waiting for things!!

My psych(o) brought up my mother as well. She was a bit of a nut case. But in the end she did approve me. Good luck!

  • Author

I knew it would come up. But for her to dwell on it when I didn't was just so weird! Oh well, if it's not approved, it's one more thing I can blame my mom for....LOL! ;)

I would write a letter of complaint to your psych and ask her how she came about that evaluation. Remind her of the progression of your conversation, adn a copy of her notes, as you are getting a second opinion.

Doctors should be held accountable, and until you do, it will persist on to the next patient, and the next, etc...

That really sucks. It really makes you want to just lie about everything.

I had mine this week as well. I tried to keep everything level and not really go into details about anything. She also asked me what I expected from the VSL and I told her. She was happy with my response and basically kicked me out of the office. I was shocked on how fast it was.

I wish you the best of luck. I am sure it will work out :)

That psych had alot of bias and should not let that interfere with approving you for surgery. It sounds like she projected her issues on to you. Can you get a second opinion? I would........ Best wishes..... :)

That really sucks. It really makes you want to just lie about everything.

I had mine this week as well. I tried to keep everything level and not really go into details about anything. She also asked me what I expected from the VSL and I told her. She was happy with my response and basically kicked me out of the office. I was shocked on how fast it was.

I wish you the best of luck. I am sure it will work out :)

That is exactly how to handle it. Remember, Psychs look for weird, so don't be. Tap into your best oatmeal self, young thespian; you're Hepburn, you're Pacino! B)

Of course, if you are really troubled, get help. These sessions appear to me just to be a service for insurance companies to weed out folks who are vulnerable for rejection and, subsequently, savings to boost their bottom line.

I'm a Tea Party Republican now. :rolleyes:

YAY! Me too. Huzzah!

I grew up with a mom who was Borderline and OCD. Think I mentioned that? She asked: "How was your childhood?" I said out loud: "Pretty dead normal..." and finished in my head: "... for a nuthouse."

Don't give them anymore information than is applicable to the situation.

Man if anything needs standardization it's the psych evals. They can range from a Spanish Inquisition to a pointless exercise of multiple questions with no one even "grading" you. And YES, the insurance companies use them to weed out people, mostly for the RIGHT reasons but sometimes for the WRONG reason. Every once in a while we hear of stories like this with some shrink wanting to make either a "point" or just a name for themselves.

This is another reason I wanted to go self pay - not only was my out of pocket cost going to be about the same I completely avoided these (say this in Joe Biden's voice) shenanigans.

  • Author

They say 'hindsight is 20/20'. I don't like to lie, but...... She hasn't even sent my paperwork back to the coordinator yet. They make it sound like this is the only therapist they work with. I have my meeting with the medical doctor and the dietician tomorrow, so I'm still pressing on.

  • Author

Woohoo! The psych eval is now a another checked item in the long to do list! She ended up calling my counselor who said that I was a good candidate and shouldn't be delayed since we are already working together every week. Now I just have to complete three months of a supervised diet and I should get to meet my surgeon in mid December! Eeeep!!!!!

Woohoo! The psych eval is now a another checked item in the long to do list! She ended up calling my counselor who said that I was a good candidate and shouldn't be delayed since we are already working together every week. Now I just have to complete three months of a supervised diet and I should get to meet my surgeon in mid December! Eeeep!!!!!

Awesome! At least she followed up with your counselor who knows your situation better instead of a quick snap judgement...that old adage "first impressions mean everything" isn't always the correct assumption!

  • 2 months later...

Hi, I had my 5 Dr's appt and seen the Psych, While I was there he asked me what husband thinks, I told himhe wasn't happy about me having surgery he asked why and I said he thinks I am setting myself up for alot of health issues and the Psych said " I think if you don't have the surgery you are setting yourself up for alot of health issues" I said I know. Then he said he thinks it'sa wonderful idea to have this done. When I told him about having 1 more Dr's appt he said he doesn't see why they make us go through that. So I left feeling postive. I called the surgeons office on Dec 28th to see if they had all the reports and such from the Dr and Psych and she said, The Psych said he doesn't think this surgery will do me any good. He doesn't think it will be successful. I am so upset!I go see him on Friday to see what the heck is up! What do you think, Please help!! Linda

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