Depression question,,,,,Help

I have read of and see so many people who have serious problems with depression after Bypass. Perhaps some had it all along, some tell me no they didnt . Is there any link possibly to this surgery adn depression. I wonder has anyone addressed it ? I know 2 people who used to be a small bit at times buit since the surgery they are SEVERLY so ... I know I never suffered depression at all prior to surgery and I have a bit not and am puzzled by it .. I also feel anxious at times and never had this before ,,,Does anyone else have any of these situations as well... Thanks Shirl

I have also read about alot of people that suffer depression after surgery~alot of them suffered before surgery too so I'm not sure if there's a connection or not?? I was on depression meds for several years before wls, but now I'm med free. Who knows if/when it will show back up, but for right now I'm feeling fine. I think the most important thing is to address the issue right away if you start having problems. Tracy B 328/150 5'9"

I have heard of several people that become very anxious and/or depressed after surgery. We had a therapist visit our support group a while back and someone asked her about it. She said as far as the anxiousness goes that most of us would just eat when we were anxious and that would fix it for us kind of like alcohol or drugs for some people. Food was our medicine or comfort when things were stressful. This surgery tends to take that away so our coping mechanism is gone. Extreme hormone shifts due to the weight loss can cause depression to show up. She, of course explained it all and said some other things but I can't remember what all she said. Melissa

I suffered from depression prior to surgery and still suffer from it. -=db=-

My take on it is that many of us were self-medicating with chocolate, Cheetos and cheeseburgers, etc. Take out abusing food, our drug of choice, and things become clearer. Nowhere Man/PH/Jay

the reason may be that we no longer have our best friend. Yes we still eat and enjoy food but not like we used to. So when we are now stressed we don't go to the bag of chips and pig out, we must deal with the problem - thus - depressed. We used food as our medication and now we don't have it. Koukla

with the amount of change we go through in the period after surgey I think it is surprising if anyone makes it thru with out depression. not only are our bodies going thru the physical changes, hormonal fluctuations, but we also are coping with the changes in how the people around us react to us. mentally keeping up with the changes in body image, losing the weight and our bodies not looking how we might have expected them to can be pretty devastating. then add to it by taking away our major coping mechanism, food, in my case sweets, and it can get pretty ugly for a while.

I've always suffered from depression, but post WLS, the sources seem a bit different. How I see myself. How others see me? Am I loosing fast enough? Why does everyone else loose more than me. WLS changes everything. It can be a very emotional experience. Torrey (281/183/160)