organizations like Mental Health America that advocated for changes in the psychiatric field helped push legislation towards action. Before the act was passed, during World War II, there was a severe shortage of professionals in the mental health field, and advanced treatment and understanding of psychiatric disorders lagged behind the increasing numbers of problems in veterans returning from the war. This provided the foundation for the act and the reasoning behind it. After the act was passed, many discoveries and breakthroughs regarding mental health diagnosis and treatment were made. These new drugs and treatments improved the lives of those previously suffering from psychosis and delusion, and were a result of the new funding and federal support that came from the National Mental Health Act of 1946. See also Bill for the Benefit of the Indigent Insane (1854), earlier failed legislation Community Mental Health Act (1963) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) (1949), main product of the act References External links 1946 in law 79th United States Congress Mental health law in the United States National Institutes of Health United States federal health legislation