Mental Health Act Program Description

The Mental Health Act is Congressional legislation that created the federally funded National Institute of Mental Health. The purpose of the NIMH is to provide appropriate services for the mentally ill, which they have done since their inception in 1946.

The Mental Health Act was passed in 1946, but has continued to grow in scope and influence in a number of areas.

The purpose of the act:

The Mental Health Act was designed to help those with mental health conditions, and to invest properly in the mental health industry, including psychiatry and mental health centers. This includes a wide range of services, both inpatient and outpatient.

Significance of the act:

• The Mental Health Act created a designation within the health care industry that is designed to train and equip professionals who can specialize in the care of mental health patients. 


• The act also helped to protect mental health patients from various discriminatory practices, particularly in the employment industry. It created oversight for the protection of the mental health patients for such discriminatory activities.


• NIMH provides funding and research to continue with different ways to help those with mental health problems train and otherwise find employment suitable for them, given their disabilities.

Additional programs and acts inspired by the Mental Health Act:

• The Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1990, with the intention of further protecting the mentally disabled from discrimination in the work place and housing.


• The New Freedom Initiative, passed in 2001, furthered the restrictions against such discriminatory practices.