12/02/2007
In their excellent article about bariatric surgery, Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt (Freakonomics, Nov. 18) mention that the procedure ”often produces complications – physiological ones, to be sure, but also perhaps psychological ones.” As a psychiatrist, I have no doubt that a morbidly obese patient without other medical cause for obesity (i.e., thyroid disease) already has a severe psychiatric problem. Without treating the compulsion that underlies such behavior, it is no wonder that patients who have surgery but no psychiatric treatment may develop ”new” psychiatric symptoms, like gambling, compulsive shopping and alcoholism.
Amanda Itzkoff, M.D.
Department of Psychiatry
Mount Sinai Hospital
New York
Dr. Amanda Itzkoff is media trained and media inquiries should be sent to amanda.itzkoff@gmail.com or amanda.itzkoff.media@gmail.com.