1. Through the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and the mental disorders section of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), psychiatry has fraudulently redefined old age as a �mental illness.�

2. In 1999, $194 million was paid for psychiatric services in nursing homes in the United States.

3. Dementia and Alzheimer�s disease are very lucrative fields for psychiatry, even though they are physical illnesses and the proper domain of neurologists.

4. Medical experts on Alzheimer�s say that 99% of these cases don�t belong in psychiatric �care.�

CHAPTER THREE Misdiagnosing for Profit

To psychiatrists old age is a �mental disorder,� a for-profit disease for which they have no cure, but for which they will happily supply endless prescriptions of psychoactive drugs or ECT. In 1999, $194 million was paid for psychiatric services in nursing homes in the U.S. An additional $1 billion was paid for treatment of the elderly in psychiatric hospitals.

In the United States, federal law provides an open door for psychiatry: each nursing home resident must have a �mental health evaluation.� This excludes testing for physical illnesses, determining nutritional deficiencies or other causes of distress.

On June 28, 2001, a nurse at the Rock Creek Center Psychiatric Hospital in Illinois, found a 53-year-old patient unresponsive 12 hours after he was drugged. Hours later the man died. A mandated autopsy revealed the man died of multiple sclerosis. On the admission form �MS� was clearly entered. However the multiple sclerosis was ignored by psychiatric staff. Officials of the facility later told investigators they believed �MS� stood for �mental status.�

In his book Prescription for Nutritional Healing, well-known medical/health columnist and broadcaster, Dr. James Balch, says, �Senility occurs in old age but it is really not very common in the elderly. Many of those diagnosed as senile are actually suffering from the effects of drugs, depression, deafness, brain tumors, thyroid problems, or liver or kidney problems. Nervous disturbances, stroke and cerebral dysfunction are considered symptoms of the senility syndrome. Often, a nutritional deficiency is the cause.�

Dr. Sydney Walker III, in his book A Dose of Sanity, gave this example of how easy it is to misdiagnose the elderly: � � a 71-year-old man who had always been in good health, suddenly began exhibiting dramatic mental deterioration. His memory became very poor, he developed a shuffling gait, and he became apathetic and was unable to do simple chores such as balancing a checkbook. The man�s doctors gave him a � �diagnosis� of incurable dementia.� After further deterioration, his wife admitted him to a hospital where a urologist diagnosed prostate problems. �The prostate surgery�seemingly unrelated to the man�s senility�caused a remarkable change in his behavior. His confusion and despondency cleared, his memory became as good as ever, and his other symptoms of senility vanished completely.�

In most cases, the elderly are merely suffering from physical problems related to their age. However, Dr. Roberto Cestari, M.D., from Italy, says: �Psychiatry�s answer to the basic problems of aging is to label them as �depression,� as a loss of mental faculties, or even a disease and, when the person complains or protests this indignity, their protest is further labeled as a mental illness, often �dementia.��

If an elderly person can�t remember where their shoes are or whether they�ve paid the electricity bill that month, psychiatry claims that he or she is manifesting symptoms of dementia, sufficient grounds to be removed to a nursing home or psychiatric hospital.

Underlying this is an entire foundation of fraudulent �diagnostic� criteria, specifically the American Psychiatric Association�s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and the mental diseases section of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). Through these devices, psychiatry has any mental impairment of the aged corralled as a �mental illness.� The labels are then used to involuntarily commit the elderly to a psychiatric facility, take control of their finances, override their wishes regarding their business, property or health care needs and defraud their health insurance.

The list of physical illnesses that psychiatry has tacked �dementia� onto include:

Dementia Due to Head Trauma

Dementia Due to Parkinson�s Disease

Dementia Due to Huntington�s Disease

Dementia Due to HIV Disease

And in case none of these fit, there�s the catch-all category: �Dementia Due to � [Indicate the General Medical Condition not listed above].�

Testifying before the Finance Committee of the U.S. Senate in 2001, Michael F. Mangano, Acting Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), reported that the insurance company for a 95-year-old Alzheimer�s patient was billed $3,305 for 40 hypnotherapy sessions. Not surprisingly, the doctor�s medical records reported that the patient was neither attentive nor cooperative. HHS determined the patient�s treatment was �medically unnecessary� and �inappropriate.�

Dementia and Alzheimer�s disease are very lucrative fields for psychiatry, even though they are purely physical illnesses and the proper domain of neurologists. Medical experts on Alzheimer�s say that 99% of these cases don�t belong in psychiatric hands.

In the same way, psychiatrists do not belong in aged care.

Without the use of drugs or coercion, Italian physician Dr. Giorgio Antonucci salvaged the lives of hundreds of patients deemed incurable and condemned to live out their old age in institutions. He taught his patients living skills, organized concerts and field trips as part of their therapy. Subsequently many were discharged to live successful lives in the community.

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