There are many options for patients seeking gastric bypass support, both before and after the surgery itself. Getting the proper emotional and behavioral support can make the difference between successful weight loss in the long term and potential rebounding weight gain in the years following the surgery. Many weight loss centers and hospitals offer services for these patients, but patients also have the option of finding help elsewhere, such as with a therapist or a group of peers, online or in person.
The weight loss clinics and surgery centers that provide gastric bypass surgeries often also provide gastric bypass support for patients before and after the surgery. In fact, attending appointments regarding emotional and lifestyle changes is sometimes a requirement for patients to be eligible for gastric bypass surgery. Failure to change lifestyle habits such as emotional overeating and remaining very sedentary can be a huge problem, sometimes causing the gastric bypass patients to regain a significant amount of the weight initially lost after the surgery. These unhealthy habits, especially combined with the patient's altered digestive system following gastric bypass, may lead to very serious health problems.
When seeking therapy outside of a weight loss clinic or hospital setting, many patients prefer to see a therapist in a one-on-one setting, allowing for a more personal atmosphere where emotional struggles can be openly discussed. Other people may instead prefer to join a gastric bypass support group that brings people who want to have or have had the surgery together to discuss issues with others familiar with the same obstacles. In addition to commiserating with peers about the struggles of weight loss, some people find motivation and inspiration talking about the triumphs of others and learning how to modify and implement others' successful techniques.
Those limited by time, money, or embarrassment may not find therapy or gastric bypass support groups particularly enticing. These patients may prefer to seek gastric bypass support in one of the numerous online support groups focused on weight loss and weight loss surgery. These forums are frequently free and require little time commitment, but provide a large basis of emotional support. Patients have the unique opportunity to reveal past or present struggles, worries, and successes to others in a similar position in a relatively anonymous setting and receive advice, encouragement, and friendship in return. Support forums also usually have links and recommendations for other gastric bypass support resources, so the members have constant access to varying kinds of information and help.
