[BamaGal]

This is a subject near and dear to my heart....

I am new here but I've already shared that I have a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder. Plus I am also an RN who works in the mental health field.

Everyone knows we have to have a psych eval prior to WLS---which is a good thing really because of all the changes you go through during and after the surgery.
Also many do not realize that the rapid weight loss phase actually will send the hormones running rampanent in the body bringing on depression. This is a well documented fact. Estrogen is released from the fat as we lose rapidly thus causing depression. Even inthose who have never had a problem with it before.
There has been alot of research as of late dealing with bariactric surgery and mental health---and according to my psych doc many more are due out.
This is one I found---
American Journal of Psychiatry

this is the quote from an article on Medscape about this---

As reported in the American Journal of Psychiatry for February, Dr. Melissa A. Kalarchian and colleagues, from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, used the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV to assess the occurrence of psychiatric disease in 288 patients seeking weight-loss surgery. The group was 83.3% female and 88.2% white. They had a mean body mass index of 52.2 and an average age of 46.2 years.
Overall, 66.3% of subjects had a lifetime history of at least one axis I disorder and 37.8% were currently diagnosed with such a disorder. The most common lifetime axis I disorder was major depressive disorder, seen in 42% of subjects. Binge eating disorder was the most common current disorder and had a prevalence of 16.0%.
A lifetime history of an axis II disorder was noted in 28.5% of subjects, the most common being avoidant personality disorder, which was seen in 17.0%.
The occurrence of axis I, but not axis II, disorders correlated with the body mass index. Both types of disorders, however, were linked to lower scores on the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form Health Survey.
The findings, the investigators point out, "are consistent with studies suggesting psychosocial impairment among bariatric surgery patients, although differences in methodology preclude direct comparisons of results from previous reports."
The team's future work, they conclude, "will focus on the course of psychiatric disorder during the post-surgery period and its relationship to weight loss and maintenance."

I have seen in my many support groups and online friends---that many really face problems after surgery---my psych doc and therapist knew of this and saw me very frequently for the first year post op.

I'm a big advocate for therapy---also the online support has been shown to be a major help----

[DocSanae]

Thank you for posting this.
We had a link to the news release of this report, but I just checked, and the original article can't be accessed because it seems the link has expired.
So, it's good to have it up here.