National Institute of Mental Health
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Established in 1949, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is the U.S. federal government’s leading research organization that examines the causes and cures of mental illnesses. The NIMH is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. With its headquarters based in Bethesda, Maryland, and multiple research offices across the country, the NIMH’s stated mission is “to transform the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses through basic and clinical research, paving the way for prevention, recovery, and cure.” With this goal in mind, the NIMH hopes to eradicate the onset of mental illnesses and establish reliable cures for all mental diseases, conditions, and behavioral disorders for the national public.
After the failure of lobbied attempts to form a federal neuropsychiatric research center, the National Mental Health Act was finally proposed in 1946 in response to this concern, as well as in response to a growing demand for mental health resources on a national rather than state level following World War II. President Harry Truman signed the Act on July 3, 1946, establishing the first comprehensive national program to deal with mental health among the American population (NIMH), as well as an official committee to monitor the nation’s biomedical policy and its inclusion of psychiatric illnesses (National Advisory Mental Health Council, NAMHC). Then chief of the Division of Mental Hygiene, Robert H. Felix had helped develop the National Mental Health Act, and eventually was appointed as the first director of NIMH in 1949. Felix remained director until he retired from government service in 1964, and remained an esteemed member of the psychological research community until his death.
Since its inception, the NIMH has acquired various programming to undergo research on such mental illnesses as schizophrenia; suicide; childhood and family mental health; criminally minded illnesses; violence; minority and urban mental illnesses; rape; aging; post-traumatic stress disorder; alcohol and substance abuse disorders; depression, Alzheimer’s disease; the impact of STDs, HIV and AIDS; and other behavioral, cognitive, mood, and anxiety disorders. Under the orchestration of several presidencies, the NIMH has also been involved with creating and improving provided services to the public, especially for those suffering from severe, chronic mental disorders. Its affiliated scientists and doctors have been accredited with making significant advances and discoveries in the field of mental health treatment, such as understanding of the brain’s construction, effective equipment, and new drugs. The current director of NIMH is Dr. Thomas Insel, and is supported by the NAMHC, the Board of Science Counselors, and Peer Review Committees. The NIMH is divided into several offices and divisions that deal with specific mental illnesses and their effects.
The NIMH particularly performs its research through biomedical examinations of brain, behavior, and experience, such as research in the fields of genetics, clinical trials of pharmaceuticals, and neuroscience. In order to meet the needs of the public’s health, the NIMH strives to maintain four main stated objectives. The NIMH encourages application of the most innovative scientific methods to:
• advance discovery in the brain and behavioral sciences and identify their causes
• chronicle mental illnesses’ progression in order to pinpoint the most opportune periods for intervention
• promote more effective strategies for intervention to meet the diverse needs of the population of Americans suffering from mental illnesses
• implement the most effectual public health policy to serve the American population
The NIMH has been criticized over the years for neglecting to address certain mental illnesses in which adequate research is still needed and a high demand exists among the population. For example, in his 2002 book Surviving Manic Depression: A Manual on Bipolar Disorder for Patients, Dr. Edwin Fuller Torrey accuses the NIMH of failing to support research on manic-depressive disorder due to special interest funds given by such contributors as the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Affective Disorders to sponsor research on schizophrenia. Instead of simultaneously addressing both disorders, Torrey states that the NIMH is giving preference to research that is specially funded. Furthermore, the Citizens Commission on Human Rights International describes former director of NIMH, Frederick Goodwin, as accepting over $1.3 million from various drug makers between 2000 and 2007 for marketing its products. The NIMH does not represent, nor does it associate itself with such acts of special interest, and maintains its stance of advancing research on mental health and public service.
