Community Mental Health Act Of 1963

In an effort to transform the public mental health system, in 1963, President Kennedy proposed the Community Mental Health Act. It was the first among several federal initiatives to create a community mental health care system. Once the act was ratified, there was an intense deterioration in institutionalization, otherwise known as “deinstitutionalization”, and by 1980 there was a 75% declined of the inpatient population at many public psychiatric hospitals. In 2000, there was less than 10% of the public institutionalized just fifty years earlier. In 2009, there was even a more dramatic shift among children and adolescence whereby there was a 98% decline in

Mental health is defined as the state of satisfactory use of mental function, which results in productive activities, interactions, adjustment to change and coping with challenges (Healthy People 2020, 2012). It is fundamental to one's personal well-being, his interpersonal relationships, and fruitful participation in, and contribution to, society in general. Mental illness or mental disorder refers as a whole to all diagnosable disturbances of the mind. These disturbances are characterized by changes in thinking, mood, and/or behavior, which produce pain, discomfort, abnormal functioning or death. Mental illnesses are serious medical conditions, which cannot be overcome by simple will power. They are not caused by personality weakness or intelligence (Healthy People 2020; NAMI, 2012).

These two men set out on a campaign with the theme “fix the broken promise” which referred to Ronald Regan’s promise to use the funding that came from the closing of many mental hospitals for the care of the discharged patients (Peck 2005). The campaign put together “pilot programs” like the programs that are offered today in the actual act (Peck 2005). There was an overwhelming positive reaction with a “56% reduction in hospital stays, a 72% reduction in jail stays, and a 65% increase in people with full-time jobs” (Peck 2005). With law enforcement on their side (having seen what these programs would do to decrease the mentally ill population), they gained a tremendous amount of supporters for their cause. Darrell Stein dedicated a year of his life for this cause and helped raise close to $4.6 million for the campaign (Peck 2009).

Many years ago, mental illness was viewed as a demonic possession or a religious punishment. In the 18th century, the attitudes towards mental illness were negative and persistent. This negativity leads to the stigmatization and confinement of those who were mentally ill. The mentally ill were sent to mental hospitals that were unhealthy and dangerous. A push in the mid 1950s for deinstitutionalization began because of activists lobbying for change. Dorothea Dix was one of these activists that helped push for change. The change called for more community oriented care rather than asylum based care. The Community Mental Health Centers Act of 1963 closed state psychiatric hospitals throughout the United States. "Only individuals who posed an imminent danger to themselves or someone else could be committed to state psychiatric hospitals" (A Brief History of Mental Illness and the U.S. Mental Health Care System). Deinstitutionalization meant to improve quality of life and treatment for those who are mentally ill. This would hopefully result in the mentally ill receiving treatment so they could live more independently. The hope was that community mental health programs would provide this treatment but sadly there was not sufficient or ongoing funding to meet the growing demand for these programs. Budgets for mental hospitals were reduced but there was no increase for the community based programs. Many mentally ill individuals have been moved to nursing homes or other residential

The community-based mental health programs are not only inadequate in relation to numbers, but also underfunded (Unite for Sight.org, 2013). According to Martin (1995), we live in a society that is increasingly becoming conscious of an excessive tax burden. Tax burden, on the other hand, provides for the realization of just how deinstitutionalization is directly related to politics and public policy. The pubic in America who account for the electorate, have a significant say in how policy is affected. To this extent the assumption in relation to deinstitutionalization is that due to increased public outcry in regards to taxation, the both federal and state governments have over the years been forced to cut down spending on some items in the recurring budget in order to free up additional funds. According to Treatment Advocacy Center (2011), the federal government in 1965 surgically excluded the payment of Medicaid for patients institutionalized in state psychiatric and other mental disorders institutions. The goals of this action, according to Treatment Advocacy Center (2011) was to foster deinstitutionalization, and the wading of care costs to sates, viewing them as largely responsible for mental care.

According to Merriam-Webster, mental health illness is described as a broad range of medical conditions (such as major depression, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder, or panic disorder) that are marked primarily by sufficient disorganization of personality, mind, or emotions to impair normal psychological functioning and cause noticeable grief or disability and that are usually related with a disruption in standard judgement, feeling, mood, behavior, interpersonal interactions, or daily functioning. Mental health is described as a level of psychological comfort, or the absence of a mental illness. It is the "psychological state of someone who is functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioral adjustment from the perspective of positive psychology or holism, mental health may include an person 's capability to enjoy life, and produce stability connecting life activities and efforts to achieve psychological resilience. The World Health Organization, suggests mental health illness includes "subjective well-being, perceived self-efficacy, autonomy, competence, inter-generational dependence, and self-actualization of one 's intellectual and emotional potential, among others. The WHO further states that the well-being of an individual is encompassed in the recognition of their capabilities, managing with normal stresses of life, constructive work and involvement to their community. Ethnic differences, prejudiced evaluations, and competing professional

In 1946, President Truman signed the National Mental Health Act, allowing federal funds for education and research in mental health. By the time of the Great Depression and the World War II, asylums’ were in unsustainable conditions and traumatized veterans were returning home needing psychiatric attention. Also in a federal extent, Congress passed the Mental Health Study Act in 1955, establishing a commission to check policies and propose reforms in psychiatric treatments. Around that time the deinstitutionalization movement started changing the mental health picture.

The Mental Health Act of 1963 was put in to law by President John F Kennedy on October 31, 1963. The Mental Health Act also identified as: (Mental Retardation and Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act of 1963) led to the establishment of a variety of community mental health centers around the U.S. This act basically assisted people with mental illnesses who were stuck or held in clinical facilities move back into the regular population. Along with this law also many different developments of new psychotropic medications and innovative approaches to mental health drugs made it easier for this process to occur.

Kennedy signed the Community Mental Health Centers Act of 1963, which provided $150 million for new mental health center programs. Enactment of the act culminated Kennedy’s pursuit of reform of the national mental health system, which he had a personal stake in. His sister, Rosemary had received a prefrontal lobotomy at age 23. In 1955, when Kennedy was senator, he sponsored the Mental Health Study Act. This act which assigned a joint commission to create detailed assessments of mental health care and the effect mental illness had on American society. The study advised a new role for state hospitals as intensive treatment sites that would be much smaller in size, As president in 1963, Kennedy presented a special message to Congress that detailed the need for new mental health legislation. Kennedy stated that 600,000 people in private and public mental institutions at the time were affected by the harsh conditions of the institutions and hospitals on a daily basis. Kennedy argued that because of the benefits of new psychotropic drugs, people with mental illness could live in more natural community settings. Kennedy suggested Congress allocate funds to train more mental health professionals, to build more programs and facilities and to continue research. His goal was to reduce by 50 percent the number of patients in state mental hospitals in 10 to 20 years, according to Rochefort. As a result of Kennedy's legislation, the

Over half of mental health conditions develop by age fourteen, and 75% by age 24. State mental health facilities and medical establishment were the primary place where the American people’s tax revenue found itself in the years of 1980 and prior. State mental health facilities were looked upon as a “snakepit,” or somewhere that few people were in favor of existing or being funded by their tax dollars. Ronald Reagan took the oval office in November of 1980, cutting the Mental Health Systems Act of 1980, which was an act signed to continue the funding of state-run mental health wards. This was signed one month prior to the election of Reagan, by former President Jimmy Carter. The repealment of the act released the remaining patients (that hadn’t

I didn’t know that John F Kennedy appointed a panel to report the aspects of mental retardation. Based on the findings in 1963 John F Kennedy signed into law the community Mental Health Act (Also Known as the Mental Retarding and Community Mental Health Centers Constructions Act of 1963) Which drastically altered the delivery of mental health services and inspired a new era of optimism in mental healthcare. This Law led to the establishment of comprehensive community mental health centers throughout the country. It helps people with mental illnesses who were “Warehouses” health centers throughout the country. It helped people with mental illnesses who were “warehouses:” in hospital s and institutions move back into their communities.

Prior to the 1960s, counseling was mostly seen in schools and universities (Smith, 2012). The Community Mental Health Centers Act of 1963, one of the most influential acts dealing with mental health needs of Americans, mandated the creation of mental health centers in over 2,000 locations (Guindon, 2011). The new law provided funding for the delivery of preventive mental health interventions, direct counseling, outreach, substance abuse treatment, and many other services in communities (MacCluskie & Ingersoll, 2001; Scileppi, Teed, & Torres, 2000). During this time, effective antipsychotic medications were created and there were mass

There are differing ways of speaking about mental health and illness in present day society. There are four approaches in regards to medical interventions to mental health and four

In October of 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed his last piece of legislation, which was meant to free thousands of patients from the unspeakable living conditions they endured in institutions. President Kennedy’s vision was to give these mentally disabled people their dignity, along with more humane care, and offer actual therapy. Unfortunately, President Kennedy was unable to see the bill through and help it along some of the more difficult obstacles it faced because he was assassinated a short three weeks after its signing. Although Kennedy’s bill changed the mental health industry significantly, only half of the community treatment centers were built due to funding issues. Waukesha County opened the doors to its mental health center in 1989 taking in the people with mental health issues and unruly behavior. To get a better

In terms of the World Health Organization (WHO) definition of health, health denotes the physical, mental, psychological and social normalcy of an individual and not just the absence of disease (NIMH, 2004). From the definition that has been given, it is clear that, there is more to health than the physical attributes. Mental health is important just like physical health because no individual is considered healthy if their mental health is deranged even if they are normal physically. The mental aspect of an individual coordinates other body systems, and for this reason, every human being needs to be mentally fit. Mental illnesses have been around for centuries, and they continue affecting