Objective: This study aims to investigate the relationship between
suicide possibilities, defense mechanisms, and eating awareness of
patients who have undergone bariatric surgery.
Method: The study sample consisted of 101 patients who had bariatric
surgery in a private hospital. People who had at least six months from the
date of surgery, who had no pregnancy, and who did not give birth after
surgery were included in the study. The Mindful Eating Questionnaire,
Suicide Probability Scale, and the Defense Style Questionnaire were
applied to the participants.
Results: While the average age of the sample was 52.46±9.72, 54.5%
(n=55) were male. Within one year after the operation, 33.7% of (n=34)
patients had lost weight between 21-30 kg, while 21.8% (n=22) had lost
weight between 11-20 kg. Suicide probability scale scores are predicted
by emotional eating (β=0.272, p=0.004), neurotic defense mechanism
(β=0.284, p=0.003) and current body mass index (β=0.258, p=0.008).
Conclusion: The possibility of suicide after bariatric surgery is closely
related to emotional eating, neurotic defense mechanisms, and body
mass index. The solution to the problem of emotional eating rather than
decreasing the body mass index may be more effective in decreasing the
suicide possibilities of the patients. Therefore, in patients undergoing
bariatric surgery, emotional eating is one of the problems that should be
handled both before and after surgery.
Keywords: Obesity, bariatric surgery, eating disorders, suicide, defense
mechanisms