I just took an exhausting and horrid psychological test! Has anyone else had to do that??

Mine was just a short conversation over the phone ,lol.

I had to take the MMPI (the one with hundreds of true/false questions). I'm a pro at that because I've had to take it several times for my job. I also had to take a multiple-choice test about eating habits. That one was kind of hard because I had changed my eating habits a lot in the months leading up to my surgery, and I wasn't sure if I should answer with my current eating habits in mind or those from before I started my pre-surgery weight loss.

On 10/7/2020 at 8:44 PM, GivinItMyALL said:

My personal favorite one was something like, "I sometimes laugh at dirty jokes." I'm sorry, but what kind of boring life do you have to lead to NEVER laugh at dirty jokes?

They ask questions like that to see if you're lying. If you say you never laugh at dirty jokes or never get angry, it shows that you're not being honest. That's also why there are a lot of repetitive questions (asking the same thing in slightly different ways), to see if you're being consistent.

Deleted (accidental duplicate post).

Edited October 9, 20205 yr by BigSue
Accidental duplicate post.

I too had to take the MMPI and another with T/F questions. About 700 total questions. Only took about an hour. I didn't think it could show me anything I didn't already know about myself but I was surprised by some of the results. One thing the Psychiatrist cautioned me one was that I have a tendency to not let others know when I'm hurt, troubled... He said it may manifest itself like not asking for pain meds when needed and cautioned me to be honest about pain or how I'm feeling after surgery. Nailed that- I do that with my chronic migraines. You may find there are things you find useful. I had 2 required additional appointment and found them beneficial as well.

Dans hall5885 I had mine last week. I was petrified ?

I feel lucky that I was told I could have my own psychiatrist write a letter saying that I’m competent to consent to surgery and understand the risks and benefits of the procedure. I was worried when I started my process that I wouldn’t be allowed to do that, and when I was told that I could it was a huge relief.

@SAS11 you are lucky! My psych eval was nearly 700 bucks, and that is WITH insurance paying part. ? A regular psychiatrist appt is a $25 copay. They said it was because it was an involved diagnostic, like an MRI, not therapeutic.

Mine was a bit easier. I had several forms or "tests" to fill out beforehand, but there weren't too many questions. Then I had a tele-meeting that lasted maybe 30 minutes where I was asked some questions about support and whether I understood what I was signing up for. After that I got the all clear and that was it. I think it ended up costing me around $145 on my high deductible insurance plan.

Yep, I had to do the psych eval also. A gazillion ridiculous questions and then an hour long appt with the psychologist. But all in all it was fine. They said I was a good candidate for surgery with realistic expectations. So I guess I passed. I'm scheduled for surgery on 10/27/20 and I just got notification that my health insurance has approved it!

I'm not a fan of "always" and "never" questions either. There are very few things in this world that are absolutes.

I had to fill out a questionnaire then had a teleconference with the psychologist. It was a lovely discussion and he sent my approval to my surgeon the next day. Guess I was lucky. But he is on a board of Bariatric providers writhing my community, maybe that experience helps?

This was the worst part of the pre-approval process. I was right on the line with a BMI of 40 and wasn't sure if insurance would approve if I dropped below. I had co-morbidities, but my sleep apnea was not well-documented and my doctor wasn't sure if it would count. She told me to not drop below 40 until I had approval. I met with the dietician and she gave me the program, but since they didn't want me to start losing weight yet, they told me to wait. But...the psych wanted me to show that I could embrace the new diet and follow their program and she wouldn't pass me until I did. This was a very frustrating situation for me and I was pretty ticked at the psychologist for forcing me to jeopardize my insurance coverage to satisfy her checklist.

Well, I decided to embrace the program and I dropped down to a BMI of about 37 before surgery, and fortunately, there was enough documentation to show the insurance company the co-morbidities were enough to qualify. I was worried for nothing.

I still don't harbor very happy thoughts about the psychologist though. I'm not sure if I'll go back since insurance only paid a part of our visits since she isn't in their network. Her advice was not very helpful the first time around.

I must have gotten off really easy. I had 1 hour-1.5 hour tele-health appt, 500 online t/f questions and that is it. She was really nice and it went quick.

Have done two psych evals in two years...changed insurance before we got surgery scheduled with first surgeon...the first one when I got to the appointment they gave me a 400 question test(the mostly true sometime true type) before I finished it I was called back to the see the doc...we chatted for a about 20 minutes and he told me I was approved just needed to finish the questions so he could file them....the second one we chatted for ten minutes and was approved, no questionnaire...guess each one is different.

Psychologist here--I just thought I would chime in with a few thoughts.

Competence is a legal issue and everyone is assumed to be competent to consent to whatever unless someone (lawyer, doctor, family member, etc.) raises the issue of whether or not someone is competent. Competence is specific to the task, so someone might be competent to make a will but not competent to consent to treatment. Not likely, but never say never.

The purpose of the psych eval is to try to determine if there are psychological factors that would be a contraindication to surgery. Undiagnosed and untreated eating disorders, or Munchausen Syndrome, or using food as an antidepressant or antianxiety agent.

The MMPI is widely used for a variety of purposes. I personally would not use it when evaluating someone for a bariatric procedure, but I have a sneaking suspicion that some insurance won't pay the clinician unless they use tests specified by the insurance company. There are consistency measures built into it in case someone decides to answer randomly or without reading the questions carefully.