I have a personal question about psych appt

Will the psych ask me about previous relationships or mental/physical abuse? It was 25 yrs ago and I really don't want to bring it up or talk about it and I don't feel it has any relevance. 

The psych doc will most likely ask you about your family life/dynamics growing up, but unless you hit on a "hot" spot, they will most likely move on. I too suffered from mental, emotional and physical abuse growing up, but that is not who I am today! I have forgiven and moved on. If that is true for you, then just express that, or state otherwise. You are somewhat right about the relevance of your past and preparing to have surgery, BUT (and that is a big but), you may turn towards food (now and after surgery) if you haven't truly dealt with your past. I certainly don't think it will keep you from having surgery, but I would recommend being sure you have dealt with your past or possibly continue to talk to a professional to work through it. Hope this helps. Good luck and God bless!

I think all psych doctors go about there questions differently, but I can tell you I was nervous about taking my psych eval !! Not that I had anything I didn't wanna talk about, but the fact that I felt this ONE person's opinion could make or break my progress to surgery, scared me to death !! Everything went much easier than I suspected. She just wanted to know about my support system and if the surgery was going to help me mentally ( since you have to mentally adapt to a new eating lifestyle post surgery, it's not just about the surgery helping to eat smaller amounts. I think you just have to feel the person out that's doing the eval, just let them ask the questions and answer them. I wouldn't just readily give up info that affected my life over 2 decades earlier. Good Luck !!!

My psych eval was very easy.  I basically told her how I had gotten to this point, previous illnesses and the meds that caused weight gain, failure of traditional dieting, etc.  We didn't speak about my marriage, my past (other than what led to weight gain), my childhood, or any of that.  She informed me of the support groups available through the surgery center and that was it.  If you don't think your past has any relevance, you don't need to bring it up.  I doubt she would ask you to speak about past bad relationships unless you tell her they are why you are overweight.

I wasn't asked about those particular things, I took an hour long "test" in 3 pamphlets, then came back a week later to hear what the psych deterrmined from them. They asked questions that didn't always make sense or follow any kind of order but from the answers he could determine any areas I needed work on. Fortunately my weight gain is from health issues but for many it is un dealt with emotional issues so even if you don't go into it with thias psych I encourage you to make sure you do deal with it because a great many with weight issues have been abused in some way. Certainly not all but a good many need some counceling either before or during their weight loss journey. Best of luck to you!

I don't recall being asked about relationships, etc.  I think that the basic thing they're trying to establish is that you're not living in a fantasy land where you expect the surgery to fix all of your problems and that you'll lose all the weight you want with no effort.  They may wish to establish that you're in a secure environment now, but I don't think they'll haul all that stuff up.

During my psych evaluation he asked me if I was ever abuse whether sexually or mentally. I hope that doesn't make a difference in him okaying me for the surgery. He was more concerned with how far the abuse went. Once he heard it wasn't all the way he moved on and never went back to it. It's probably just so he knows if you need to go to have some therapy before and after surgery.

Everyone does things a little differently, but (s)he probably WILL ask about a history of abuse.  It would be a general question, and would be followed by a couple of additional questions if you answer affirmatively, but you won't be expected to talk at any length about it.

The biggest reason for asking is to determine if there is a history of trauma that may be a contributor to the obesity (women who have been physically or sexually abused or assaulted are MUCH more likely to be MO/SMO than women who have not).  It isn't to disqualify you in any way, but it is important to know how much it might be a "liability" in terms of weight loss success.  

The fact that you don't want to talk about it all is kind of a yellow flag (especially since it was so long ago), and it may have much more relevance than you think.  Unresolved issues do not just go away after surgery and can sabotage your weight loss long term.

Lora

edited for autocorrect issues...