The mental hospitalization of the aged; is it being overdone?

The number and percentage of aged persons in the population is increasing and will continue to increase for many years. The percentage of such persons admitted to public mental hospitals is increasing much more rapidly than their percentage in the population; and their admission rate to mental hospitals is increasing much more rapidly than that of younger persons. Although the incidence of mental disease increases with age, there is no evidence that a unilateral increase of mental disease among the aged in recent years has anything to do with these differential increases. Sociologic factors are mainly responsible. In order of increasing numerical importance, delirious and other dying persons, non-psychotic feeble persons, nonpsychotic old persons with chronic illness, and tractable old persons who technically may be called psychotic are being sent to our mental hospitals because there is no other place for them to go. No question about their mental condition would be raised if there were other facilities....