In May this year I had bariatric surgery as I was morbidly obese (sleeve gastrectomy), and since this time my depression has worsened and I'm currently in the midst of a major depressive episode. I'm wondering if there are any other BB forum participants who have similarly had bariatric surgery and also find themselves in a similar situation?
I’ve been doing a lot of reading about
depression following sleeve gastrectomy surgery, in the hopes that I will
discern why it has happened to me.
Most scientific/academic articles say that
depression and other psychological conditions are more prevalent in bariatric
surgery patients than they are in the general population. This is ascribed to
the physical and psychological impact that obesity has on patients’ lives. The
articles claim that bariatric surgery has a positive affect on patients’ lives
given the health benefits of surgery and the boost to self-esteem that comes
with being thinner. However, some studies have shown that a small number of
bariatric patients have a psychological downturn following surgery, and one
study has found that the likelihood of attempted suicide is 4-5 times higher in
bariatric patients than it is in the general population. These articles make
the case that this psychological downturn is the result of patients not being
able to eat as much as they are used to, and/or patients turning to alcohol and
substance abuse to manage their emotions following surgery, and/or patients
having unrealistic expectations of the benefits of bariatric surgery. What
seems to be absent though, to my mind, is analysis of the physical impact of bariatric
surgery on brain chemistry.
Now, I am not a chemist, am not a
scientist, so I cannot wait until further research is conducted into this
issue. My pressing need is to dig myself out of the hole that I’m in. Or grab a
ladder and start climbing.
Is there anyone else here in a similar situation?
FrancescaS
