Monday, June 1, 2009

Psychological Evaluation

This morning I went for my psych eval for weight loss surgery. It is to ensure that I understand what I am about to go through, with all its risks and possibilities, and also, to make sure that I am able to make the behavioral changes necessary for the surgery to be successful.

I was determined to be brutally honest in my answers, no matter how difficult, so that I could get the most out of this. The first thing I had to do was answer 567 true or false questions on a computer. When I completed that I was given a written, 91 question multiple choice test. When that was done I met with the psychologist for an interview and finally, the results.

I'm nuts. Okay, I know that we all suspected it, so I thought I would just get it out of the way. But seriously now. I was told that I am slightly depressed with anxiety issues, which is nothing that I didn't already know. I have been on anxiety medication in the past and it looks like I am going to be on it again. The really interesting thing that I learned was that what I thought was a binge eating disorder is really just a night eating disorder. I don't eat enough or in an out of control way for it to qualify as binge eating. What happens to me is I try to go to sleep, but am unable to sleep because I am thinking of food and as long as I try to avoid eating, I won't sleep, but if I just get up an eat a little something, then I can fall asleep soon after. I will be seeing a behaviorist to learn techniques to over come this issue.

My next appointments are on Friday afternoon with the physical therapist and the dietitian. Back to back appointments, ugh. I shall be exhausted that day. I will let you know how it goes.

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