by Allen P. Wilkinson

About the author: Allen P. Wilkinson is a legal writer and consultant in Whittier, California.

Millions of Americans suffer from real or apparent mental disorders and seek psychiatric treatment for them. However, a significant number of psychiatric symptoms are caused by an underlying physical condition. Many psychiatric patients are actually suffering from a physical illness.

Studies of 4,500 psychiatric patients showed that 58 percent referred for psychiatric care suffered from an undiagnosed, significant physical abnormality. In about 22 percent of those cases, the physical condition was directly related to the psychiatric symptoms. However, only in half of those cases did the psychiatrist correctly diagnose the underlying physical problem.

Another study of 3,500 psychiatric patients found that more than half had a physical disease. Of these, 23 percent were discharged from psychiatric care after they...