<P> Mental health has traditionally been a state responsibility , but after World War II there was increased lobbying for a federal ( national ) initiative . Attempts to create a National Neuropsychiatric Institute failed . Robert H. Felix , then head of the Division of Mental Hygiene , orchestrated a movement to include mental health policy as an integral part of federal biomedical policy . Congressional subcommittees hearings were held and the National Mental Health Act was signed into law in 1946 . This aimed to support the research , prevention and treatment of psychiatric illness , and called for the establishment of a National Advisory Mental Health Council ( NAMHC ) and a National Institute of Mental Health . On April 15 , 1949 , the NIMH was formally established , with Felix as director . Funding for the NIMH grew slowly and then , from the mid-1950s , dramatically . The institute took on a highly influential role in shaping policy , research and communicating with the public , legitimizing the importance of new advances in biomedical science , psychiatric and psychological services , and community - based mental health policies . </P>
<P> Mental health has traditionally been a state responsibility , but after World War II there was increased lobbying for a federal ( national ) initiative . Attempts to create a National Neuropsychiatric Institute failed . Robert H. Felix , then head of the Division of Mental Hygiene , orchestrated a movement to include mental health policy as an integral part of federal biomedical policy . Congressional subcommittees hearings were held and the National Mental Health Act was signed into law in 1946 . This aimed to support the research , prevention and treatment of psychiatric illness , and called for the establishment of a National Advisory Mental Health Council ( NAMHC ) and a National Institute of Mental Health . On April 15 , 1949 , the NIMH was formally established , with Felix as director . Funding for the NIMH grew slowly and then , from the mid-1950s , dramatically . The institute took on a highly influential role in shaping policy , research and communicating with the public , legitimizing the importance of new advances in biomedical science , psychiatric and psychological services , and community - based mental health policies . </P>
when was the national institute of mental health founded
when was the national institute of mental health founded
April 15 , 1949
April 15 , 1949