As part of the pre-Optifast testing I went through, I had an hour and a half consult with a behaviorist named Richard. I forgot to ask him if he was a psychiatrist or a psychologist, googling the word behaviorist made it seem like it could be either. Before the appointment I filled out a 12-question questionnaire, so he had that, plus the 15 other pages I filled out about my perssonal, medical, fitness, and weight loss history. The questions I answered were about my mood over the seven days previous, and I had to say whether they had been less likely, more likely, or extremely likely to occur. Questions like "I felt irritated at my family and friends", "I felt hopeless", "I found myself getting angry easily". Of the 12 questions, I answered that four of them had been "extremely likely" to occur. I don't even remember which four, although I'm happy to say I answered "less likely" to the feeling hopeless one. What amazed me is that from my answers to those questions plus a couple … [Read more...]