The Need for Proper Medical Care

Medical studies have shown time and again that for many patients, what appear to be mental problems are actually caused by an undiagnosed physical illness or condition. This does not mean a �chemical imbalance� or a �brain-based disease.� It does not mean that mental illness is physical. It does mean that ordinary medical problems can affect behavior and outlook.

Gary Oberg, M.D., past president of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine, says, �Toxins such as chemicals in food and tap water, carbon monoxide, diesel fumes, solvents, aerosol sprays and industrial chemicals can cause symptoms of brain dysfunction which may lead to an inaccurate diagnosis of Alzheimer�s or senile dementia.�

Former psychiatrist William H. Philpott, now a specialist in nutritional brain allergies, reported, �Symptoms resulting from B12 deficiencies range from poor concentration to stuporous depression, severe agitation and hallucinations. Evidence showed that certain nutrients could stop neurotic and psychotic reactions and that the results could be immediate.�

According to one mental health group, �When a person remains depressed despite normal efforts to remedy the problem, a physical source of the depression should be considered.� They list a number of possible physical sources, including: nutritional deficiencies, lack of exercise, thyroid problems, poor adrenal function, hormonal disorders, hypoglycemia, food allergies, reactions to heavy metals, sleep disturbances, infections, heart problems, lung disease, diabetes, chronic pain, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson�s disease, stroke, liver disease, and even psychiatric drugs themselves.

Several diseases closely mimic the symptoms of so-called schizophrenia. In a study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, Dr. A. A. Reid lists 21 conditions, beginning with an increasingly common one, �the temporary psychosis brought on by amphetamine drugs.� Dr. Reid explains that drug-induced psychosis �is often indistinguishable from an acute or paranoid-schizophrenic illness.�

In 1998, the Swedish Social Board cited several cases of disciplinary actions against psychiatrists, including one in which a patient was complaining of headaches, dizziness and staggering when he walked. The patient had complained of these symptoms to psychiatric personnel over a long period of time before a medical check-up revealed that he had a brain tumor.

Dr. Thomas Dorman, an internist and member of the Royal College of Physicians of the United Kingdom and of Canada advises, �� please remember that the majority of people suffer from organic disease. Clinicians should first of all remember that emotional stress associated with a chronic illness or a painful condition can alter the patient�s temperament. In my practice I have run across countless people with chronic back pain who were labeled neurotic. A typical statement from these poor patients is, �I thought I really was going crazy.�� �Often,� he said, the problem may have been �simply an undiagnosed ligament problem in the back.�

Proper medical examination by non-psychiatric diagnostic specialists is a vital preliminary step in mapping the road to recovery for any mentally disturbed individual. Therefore, funding should be directed to those mental health facilities that have a full complement of diagnostic equipment and competent medical (non-psychiatric) doctors. In this way, finding the underlying physical condition could eliminate more than 40% of psychiatric admissions.

The very least our senior citizens deserve is to be able to enjoy their golden years, safe in the knowledge that they won�t be taken from their homes, incarcerated in what amounts to prison conditions, drugged until they are senseless and, with electrodes strapped to their heads, brutally shocked. To render them inactive and mindless through powerful mind-altering drugs and ECT, both with horrendous and life-threatening side effects, is an unforgivable assault on our elderly.

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