The skinny on the pre-op psych eval

The first order of business was one of those true/false personality inventory type tests. I can't remember the initials, but it wasn't the MMPI, because I asked. It had five letters and was similar, though. One of the questions was "true or false, I have been on the cover of several magazines recently". Whoa!!!!

The next test seemed IQish; I felt like I was taking the SATs, because the first page was all vocabulary: "circle the word that is closest in meaning to the first word", with four words to choose from. The second page was a bunch of number and letter patterns where you filled in what would be next in the sequence. 12345 54321 etc. Not sure what that was about.

We went over my whole life history. (There's nothing like telling a total stranger your life history...smoke 'em if you got 'em.) He was nice enough, but I do prefer to see female health practitioners whenever possible; however, he is the only one my insurance covers at that particular practice. There was a big certificate on his wall that said he was certified to treat sex offenders, which gave me pause for a second. (I guess *someone* has to treat them; we can't just euthanize them all, much as I'd like to.) Explaining my early life to someone I don't know feels impossible; it isn't that simple to explain to people I do know. I just tick it off like a shopping list, which seems to be easiest for all concerned. I only used one Kleenex.

The difference between this and the two other psychiatric evaluations I've had in the past was asking what my weight was at different points in my life. He also asked who would take care of me after the surgery, how was I paying for it, things like that.

The guy is a psychologist, so he's not going to prescribe me drugs, and I'm not seeing him again. I only did this because insurance requires a psych eval. He said he treated it as a pass/fail test. Diagnosis is probably only a concern if you are entering some kind of ongoing treatment. He said I "was a resounding pass" at the end, anyway. He did recommend a sleep medication, and told me I might want to talk to my doctor about it, because my sleep or lack thereof was his biggest concern.

I can't speak for him, but I think we both left that room a bit more tired.