Suicide and WLS

The surgeon's request for a psych evaluation has gotten me looking around the net for information on the statistics of suicide in WLS patients. At first look it does appear that WLS patients show 3x the % of suicide rates over non-WLS patients. However, further reading of one particular article (which won't let me link to it) discusses the fact that the average is higher than the national average of all people. The author notes that perhaps it would be more accurate to compare the suicide rates to those of all morbidly obese patients before concluding that the WLS patients have a higher rate.

Why would they have a higher rate of suicide? Interesting question. I can only speculate (it's rather hard to ask the subject matter), but I would think that if you were prone to depression, and expected that 'being skinny' would solve your issues, then found out that all the issues stay the same, you might become quite depressed once again. I'm sure there may be other reasons, but this would appear to be the most obvious one.

I don't think my weight defines me very much, at least not in my own mind. I use many words to describe myself, but fat isn't usually one of them! I realize that losing weight won't make my husband pick up his socks, or make my son keep his room clean. It won't make my job easier (but my job is a blast, so that doesn't count). Weight loss doesn't make the in-laws any nicer, etc, etc, etc. In fact, I suppose it might make some of the relationships people have worse. A mother-in-law could be pretty difficult to take at the best of times, but if she's watching your weight loss like a hawk it could be infuriating! At any rate, my bottom line on this would be that perhaps it is possible that morbidly obese patients are more prone to depression and suicide, but if they are it should show up before WLS. So comparing WLS patients to the general population may not be accurate.

As for me, I am not prone to suicide. Just boughts of screaming at people who piss me off... which I used to stuff down the feelings with food and internalize the hurt. Not any more... piss me off and you're gonna know it! Much healthier eh? LOL!

To read the article I'm referring to, go to Google and search for "Higher-Than-Expected Suicide Rate Following Bariatric Surgery". It's the first article, but it won't let me link to it for some reason.