Obesity which is known as an excessive body fat affects the person negatively in psychological way besides it’s physiological damages. Genetic, environmental and psychological factors play role in the development of obesity. Since obesity is a learned eating behavior, the person’s environment and family are the most important factors affecting the development of obesity. Just as psychological problems can cause obesity, obesity can also cause psychological problems. Mood, anxiety, somatoform and eating disorders are more common in obese patients. At the same time, social phobia, sexual dysfunction, and low self-worth can be seen in patients. The psychological disturbance which is commonly seen in obese patients is depression. This situation may differ according to age, gender, socio-economic and cultural levels. In general, it is known that obesity increases with age and is more common in women than in men. Obesity patients generally have deterioration in their thoughts about body image. The person misjudges herself/himself with the effect of weight which causes an withdrawal in the individual. That causes her/him to move away from his social environment, increase his tendency to depression or other psychological problems. In other words, the loss of the person in the psycho-social field, the feeling of guilt and her/his labeling cause many unsuccessful diet practices and each unsuccessful attempt supports eating disorder negatively.
Performing individual and group therapy on the patient before and after the operation will enable the patient to adapt to the situation better. In individual therapy, the more internal processes of the person are handled. It’s aimed to eliminate the current problem by going to the source of the problem. It is aimed to deal with the weight problem in detail. In group therapy, it’s aimed to increase the awareness of the individual by ensuring that she/he sees the similar problems experienced by other people. However, by joining a group, a person develops a sense of belonging, increases self-confidence and has the opportunity to socialize.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is a very successful technique in patients with eating disorders. The goal is to change the habits that cause over weight. This technique is a psychotherapy that plans the eating behavior and a way of thinking specifically for each individual. When losing weight is not successful, unrealistic eating and weight goals, overeating or inability to lose weight can be overly critical or hopeless. Afterwards, the negative thoughts are focused on and they’re replaced with more realistic ones. In the first phase of the treatment, issues such as self-confidence, relationships, and physical health are discussed. In the second phase, the body perception and unreal goals of the person are discussed. In the last stage, it’s aimed to gain cognitive behavioral skills for weight control. With the right physiological and psychological methods, the person’s weight can be controlled. In this context, it is aimed to give detailed information to obese individuals about their diseases and help them develop effective coping methods for their situation and to make them feel better.
What should not be forgotten in obesity surgery is that no matter what surgical process is applied, the patient can regain weight in the long term. What is important here is to create a new life for patients with life changes in the early period and to ensure its sustainability. While patients who have a gastric balloon or an adjustable gastric band should definitely receive psychotherapy, psychotherapy is recommended for other surgical procedures as well. The success of psychotherapy on the group who are losing weight and preserving weight without any surgical attempt just by diet is also obvious.
