I was wondering what the psychatric evaluation is like? What kind of questions do they ask, what are they really trying to discover about us before we get a referral from them?

It has been a long time since I had to do one. However, I do remember that some of the primary things that they focused on or kept asking questions around related to general mental health and stability, do we truly understand what lifestyle commitments are involved and are we capable and motivated to follow through, do we have realistic expectations of what the results of surgery might be.

The other thing that came up in questions in various forms were questions about our relationships with food. Do we have binge behavior, did we ever have any purging behavior such as with bulimia or overuse of laxatives. Have we been able to lose weight in the past, if so, how did we accomplish this? Are we able to follow diet plans? When we are on diets are we generally lax with them or fanatical, etc.

:cool2:I just went for my evaluation yesterday and we just talked about my past diet attempts, family life, what I expect the lap band to do for me.

they don't want you thinking it's an easy fix and you don't have to worry about what you eat anymore. Dopn't worry about it.Good luck.

Well...at my psyc. eval. I had to complete a questionaire with over 300 questions. Questions such as: Do you have thoughts of harming yourself? Do you feel someone is out to get you? Do you enjoy harming pets? Do you love your Father? Do you love your mother? Did you steal as a child? etc... After that I talked to the Psyc. and he asks you about thoughts of harming yourself, depression, do you feel you understand the surgery and it's potential sided affects etc... If you are of sound mind, shouldn't be an issue. My husband was sure he was gonna send me home with Prozac LOL Aside from all those crazy questions on the questionaire, it was easy. Hope all goes well for you.

Yes. Very benign questions. Helps them to identify if you have any specific eating disorders, suicidal tendencies, etc...

I was worked up about it at first, but then it went very well and was a piece of cake. Hm. That was a bad pun! Perhaps I should have just said that it went swimmingly! :Banane37:

Mine was a questionnaire (long one, part of the MMPI questionnaire) and then a brief 15-20 min interview. Some try to "bypass" this but I think it's important; if I'm going to wake up with the band in place and be miserble I would rather not do it! I "Think" i'm a good candidate, but I want that seal of approval, you know? The whole thing was non-threatening and easy. Passing it made me feel stronger about my decision to go with the lap band. It's just another info tool.

I just had my appointment this week. They asked about my life. They asked about if there was a history of drug abuse, eating disorders, and self hurting (i.e. cutting). Then he talked about my expectations from the band and how I plan to live with the band. It wasn't that bad.

As I understand, folks who are emotional eaters tend to sometimes suffer from a depressed state after banding and returning to their lives. Things still happen triggering the urge to buddy up to a snack. Not being able to, well... I answered 4 questions all dealing with my daughter and was told I was fine. But while waiting for my appt. I sat in a psychiatrist's office reading the only magazine they had.."Field and Stream" And as I sat there looking at this year's new rifles, knives, recent catches, etc.. It occurred this may not be the magizine for this office. Of course the receptionist's conversation with some poor woman who was hearing voices made me realize I had not one thing to worry about. Between the magazine and the converstaion...the eval was "in the bag". You'll do fine!