Bariatric surgery care
How Psychologists Contribute to Bariatric Patient Success
Psychologists at the Center for Weight and Eating Disorders are an important asset to a bariatric medical team and invaluable to the success of patients.
Summary: 60 Second Read
In this article you will learn-
Psychologists who work with bariatric patients typically have training in health psychology, as well as more specifically in weight and eating difficulties.
How Psychologists help in preparing Patients for Bariatric Surgery
As part of their preparation for bariatric surgery, patients meet with psychologists for pre-surgical psychological evaluations which assess behavioral readiness for surgery and stability of mood symptoms.
By doing this, we are able to help the patients problem-solve various issues they may be experiencing to improve post-operative success. By working collaboratively with the medical team, psychologists advocate for patients and their long term success in achieving their health and weight-loss goals.
As psychologists, their goal is to make sure patients are in a good space mentally and emotionally, so that they can handle the large lifestyle and physical changes that come with bariatric surgery. As part of the pre-surgical evaluations, psychologists may:
- Suggest strategies patients can practice to improve his or her mental and emotional health if he or she is experiencing mild depression, anxiety, or eating disorder symptoms.
- Require patients to start psychotherapy or begin medication before bariatric surgery if they are experiencing high levels of depression, anxiety, or eating disorder symptoms and are not already seeing a psychotherapist or psychiatrist.
- Provide referral information for specialty mental health clinics if a patient is struggling with smoking cessation or significant eating disorder symptoms.
- Another purpose of the evaluations is to assess the patient’s social support level, environmental stressors, and significant upcoming life changes. We make sure that the patient has identified support people who will provide them with emotional and instrumental support after surgery.
If the patient has considerable work, school, or family stress and doesn’t have the time or mental or emotional resources to focus on health behavior change, the psychologist may suggest delaying surgery until a more optimal time.
Long-term Support for Long-Lasting Success
Some research has shown that post-surgical bariatric patients develop mood symptoms, such as depression, that may be related to physiological consequences of having bariatric surgery and the various health and lifestyle adjustments needed to adhere to the post-operative lifestyle.
By conducting psychological evaluations before surgery, we are able to problem solve these possibilities and provide patients with resources for support, as well as coping strategies, to deal with negative emotions and behaviors the patients may experience after surgery. Psychologists are also a resource for patients after surgery if individual therapy is needed to better adhere to the post-operative lifestyle.
A patient-psychologist relationship is important because the psychologist gives the patient tailored recommendations that optimize a patient’s long-term physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
They help patients learn relevant skills to positively change behaviors and connect them to resources that will support them during the major changes that surgery presents.
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Reference:
- https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/Psychological_aspects_of_bariatric_surgery
- https://www.apa.org/monitor/2016/06/bariatric-psychologist
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5359375/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3096263/
