A report published in The American Journal of Medicine (AJM) lends additional support to the discovery that people who receive bariatric surgery have a suicide rate that is greater than the average.
This is not to imply that weight-loss surgery itself is a catalyst to suicide, because there is no convincing evidence to support this. The fact is that at this point in time there is no concrete explanation to the increased prevalence of suicide in obesity surgery patients.
What was established in a prior study, unrelated to the AJM study, is that two-thirds of the subjects who desired weight-loss surgery had a psychological disorder. A somewhat logical assumption that is being investigated is that the higher than average suicide rate among bariatric patients is due to conditions that existed prior to the weight-loss surgery procedure. Depression and anxiety are common among people who seek any weight-loss surgery.
What need be understood at this point is that there is not a landside of suicides among bariatric patients. Of the more than 16,500 individuals who had bariatric surgery in a nine year period, thirty-one committed suicide. While this is not an overwhelming percentage, suicide is always tragic and oftentimes preventable. One of the thoughts to decrease this sad outcome is to extend the follow-up period after weight-loss surgery. The current follow-up period is about six months after weight-loss surgery, and most suicides among bariatric patients happen after that length of time.
Psychological testing is done prior to any bariatric surgery. A candidate's history of psychological illness does not constitute immediate preclusion. Even those who have such disorders as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or anxiety disorders may be allowed bariatric surgery provided the illness is reasonably controlled and is counseled by a mental health professional before and after the bariatric surgery procedure.
Psychological Evaluations for Bariatric Surgery: What to Expect
If you are considering weight-loss surgery, a psychological evaluation will be done; therefore, here is an overview of what you can expect:
The evaluation will be administered by a qualified professional.
Testing instruments may include an Audit-C alcohol screen to determine if the person seeking bariatric surgery has any hazardous drinking habits or active alcohol disorders.
A drug abuse screening test to determine if a prospective bariatric patient is abusing substances other than alcohol may be conducted.
A Millon Behavioral Medicine Diagnostic (MBMD) test will assess a person's psychological preparedness for bariatric surgery. The MBMD test was created specifically for medical patients and is divided into the five domains of psychiatric indicators, coping styles, stress moderators, treatment prognostics, and management guide.
In addition, a Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC) test measures either general health conditions or specific health conditions using rating scales. The conditions measured are dependent on the form that is used (form A, B, or C).
