Weight Loss and Mental Health

Lately, there has been a great deal of press coverage of a recent study indicating that bariatric surgery may offer some hope for severely obese patients who are also dealing with depression, and perhaps other psychological issues relating to eating. This is good news, of course, but there's no getting around the fact that the close relationship between our physical and mental health makes for a highly complex topic, so there's not always a direct correlation between a successful weight loss procedure and positive outcomes for issues like depression.

That's one reason why, whether a patient is receiving a gastric sleeve or a Lap Band, it's important for patients to have realistic expectations. At times, patients may tend to ascribe nearly all of the difficulties they face in life to their obesity. However, when it it comes to psychological matters especially, it's often the case that patients are surprised to find that many of the issues they were facing before their procedure are still a problem even after they have lost all of their weight. For example, while losing weight might well help an individual feel somewhat more confident, there are still plenty of thin people whose self-esteem could use a little support.

At Dr. Feiz & Associates, we place great importance on providing careful follow-up regarding progress both in terms of weight loss and their overall well-being and state of mind. Overall, while bariatric surgery is no magic wand, we're happy to say that we've found that weight loss procedures have led to consistently good results in terms of patients overall happiness, as well as their health.