I have an appointment on Monday and am afraid to go because I will probably start crying if questioned about certain things. I'm afraid that the psycologist will say that I need several appointment before he will refer me for surgery. Yep, I'm one of those people that hold things inside of me and eat for comfort. I'm trying to take steps to learn to deal with stress and feel losing weight will give me the confidence to get out of circumstances that make me unhappy. I know it won't cause my problems go away but if I could just gain the confidence to move on life would be so much better.

Has anyone told the psyc one thing and then after surgery decide to go for counseling?

I had my psych appointment yesterday and it was totally fine. They just ask you a series of questions. He told me they want to know about certain issues so that they can help you with behavior modification and help you cope with those issues post-op, not really to hold you back from the surgery. Also they want to make sure you have realistic expectations and ensure you understand what is involved.

Don't worry, just try to relax and be honest and you can ask about continuing counseling if you feel it would help you.

I'm nutty as a fruitcake and I survived the psych-eval. As long as you have a grip on yourself and have reasonable expectations and can present a concrete goal to take care of any psych problems (like eating for comfort - which I DO), that's what they usually look for. Really depends on the psych in question - they're all different. But really, you may want to consider looking into counselors in your area that you could talk to after the surgery -whether it gets recommended to you or not.

Oh...I did want to add. I think I did tear up a couple times with stuff she asked me about my past. But I have a pretty good grip on what my issues are and I have a goal to get them handled or am in the process of doing something about them already.

They don't ask anything specific or thought provoking. You'll do fine!

Don't worry! Part of the purpose of the evaluation is to see if continuing counseling or meds would help you. I was worried too, because I had to admit to the guy that 1) I was on Prozac, 2) I have seen my counselor on and off for years and 3) I struggled with bulemia for a while. I was scared to death thinking he would deny me. BUT - to my surprise, he was actually pleased that I am in active treatment. He said it would be more worrisome if I had some of those issues and was unwilling to seek treatment. He said to continue to see my counselor, good luck with the surgery and see you later....

You'll be fine! Continuing counseling is a great idea since it will help you make behavior adjustments and is just a healthy thing to do overall!

I have bi-polar disorder and was approved. Be honest, it will only help you succeed.

I know someone who has Borderline Personality Disorder which is a very hard mental condition to treat, who got approved for the surgery. She's also an alcoholic. If she can get through the psych test, you should have no problems. Just be honest, and talk to the doctor about how you plan to work on the issues surrounding your emotional eating. How will you take care of your emotional needs now that food will not be an option? What supports (friends and family) do you have to help you when you need emotional support?

Good luck.

My advice is be honest with the psychologist. I was, in fact I think I was to honest. But she passed me anyways and told the coordinator that I was one of the first WLS patients that they sent over that was probably the best patient for it. Weird huh? I know where my food issues lay, not from emotional eating but the fact I love to cook, and I cook awesome foods. Also I am a weird duck, I literally forget to eat, don't ask me how but I do. So when I do finally eat .. watch out you might loose a finger or two.

She never asked me about past abuse issues or anything like that just mainly to make sure I didn't have unrealistic expectations or stuff like that. *shrugs*

But then again I am a great BS artist, I grew up military you had to be LOL

(That last line was sarcasm, I was totally honest with the psychologist, I know when and where to bs and that appt was NOT it.)

HI, I recommend you to go to your appointment, don´t be afraid, the only thing they do is help you with anxiety, which does make you eat eat and eat! They help you control your own anxiety, trust me! I have an eating desorder, which clould be emotional eating. I go over sweets, but not chocolate, to aliviate anxiety, as some people do! I know this is NOT good for me, that´s why my search for help, so I´m looking again for it, psych help, which I will start next week, hope so!

I saw an article inside Bariatric Times magazine, there´s a kit called "emotional eating" I will order it today, and hopefully receive it next week or the following, I´m so excited about this, beacuse I´m tired of suffering of this damn anxiety my entire life (since childhood) and I trust Jesuscrist will help me overcome this horrible situation.

Best of luck from Texas!

Sorry! forgot to tell you that I´m not banded, I had mini gastric bypass, because I eat lots of sweets! I got WLS on June 15, 2006, almost 2 years ago! I´ve lost 78 lbs since then, and have kept them off, but I´m between 160-165, which is good, but I know I have to lose 10 o 15 more lbs. but i feel great like this, I´m a size 10 already which is good, before I was a size 24w, I want to reach my goal to size 7, not a size 5, but if I can, great!

Thank you for the replies and reassurance that everything will be okay. I'm so worried that something I say or if I start crying will hold me back from getting the surgery before I go for more counseling. When I talked to the psych on the phone he sounded very nice.

Sorry! forgot to tell you that I´m not banded, I had mini gastric bypass, because I eat lots of sweets! I got WLS on June 15, 2006, almost 2 years ago! I´ve lost 78 lbs since then, and have kept them off, but I´m between 160-165, which is good, but I know I have to lose 10 o 15 more lbs. but i feel great like this, I´m a size 10 already which is good, before I was a size 24w, I want to reach my goal to size 7, not a size 5, but if I can, great!

Great job Sunshine! What is a mini gastric bypass? I'm not familiar with it.

My psych appointment was so different. He just sat me down and talked to me about exercising and portions I should eat. It was almost like he was a dietician, but not. Not once did he even ask me any emotional issues or whatever. He did make a comment that pissed me off though. he said for somebody my weight to maintain it would have to eat 4500 cals a day and I challenged him on this becuase I was eating between 1900 and 2500 calories a day. Which yes, is a lot, but it sure wasn't 4500. LOL. Anyway, I took that 700 long question test and left. It will try to trick you and ask you the same two or three questions a few different times. They scored it and said that I was perfect for the surgery.

OMG I have that too & was a little scared of them saying something

I had mine today and was a little freaked out too. I really enjoyed it. I took basic question tests and then we talked for about an hour about my habits, support system, have i thought this through that type stuff. I felt really great when I left having one more person confirm I was doing the right thing for me. In fact she told me a couple of times she was very excited for me and hoped I would keep in touch with my progress since she specializes in bariatrics.

I was scared/nervous before mine too due to a history of depression, but I went and told the truth and he passed me. Good luck to you!