Mental Health & WLS

[sophiexo]

Hello and let me first apologise if this is an ongoing thread!

I’m not sure what the process is in each county etc but in Sheffield the only way to get surgery is by being referred to a programme called Why Weight for a specified amount of time (depending on bmi).

I had my 121 session today where they go through your hopes for surgery and medication, health conditions etc.

Stupidly I mentioned I have borderline personality disorder because the next thing I knew she was pulling a face and making a ‘errr’ sound and said oh it’s a trigger one meaning you might not get surgery. A great thing to be told on World Mental Health day!

I am treated for bpd and apart from crying very easily I cope very well. I work 40 hours a week, socialise etc on the surface I am doing well in the sense that I am not particularly incapacitated by it. Its definitely there but I can cope and believe the previously mentioned able to work etc show this to an extent (to the nhs anyway!). My depression about my weight is really what triggered me to go to my doctor and ask for help and now I already feel like I am fighting a losing battle.

So the question is has anybody else with bpd or other mental health issues had these problems and issues qualifying for surgery?

Thanks!

 

[TiaLi]

Who did you have the 121 session with? Was it one of the nurses, the surgeon or the psychologist?

Some mental health conditions are at times regarded as contraindications for surgery, if they suspect it means the patient will not be able to cope with the required changes afterwards. Someone with uncontrolled manic episodes might for example have problems with sticking to the rigid lifelong vitamin regime, a person with a severe binge eating disorder might be very unlikely to break that behaviour and continue doing it after surgery etc - these are things that could be dangerous from a health perspective. So that's why they always evaluate patients with mental health disorders a bit extra, it is not because of judgement or prejudice. This is one of the reasons most multidisciplinary teams will have a psychologist attached to it - they help screen patients beforehand. There is not very much solid research done in this area (i.e. impact of psychiatric disorders on post-surgery success), so I would assume all hospitals approach this in a different way. I would, however, be very surprised if Sheffield completely ruled you out simply based on knowing you have that diagnosis alone. They will however most likely have you speak to a psychologist beforehand to see that you are a good candidate for surgery or if there are any strong red flags. This is not unusual - a lot of weight loss surgery candidates for example suffer from depression, but certainly not all of them will be stopped from having surgery.

So don't feel like this is a losing battle, you will almost certainly be given a chance to argue your case in the form of a conversation with a psychologist. I think one of the things in particular they will look for is that you have done your research and really understand what having surgery actually entails in terms of lifestyle change etc.

Don't lose hope, and good luck with everything!