Eric Johnson: Making a difference in our mental health

On Oct. 31, 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed the Community Mental Health Act into law which dramatically altered the delivery of mental health services across the country. The law’s passage encouraged a new era of optimism in mental health care. This pivotal legislation led to the establishment of comprehensive community mental health centers.

In its very modest beginnings, the passage of the legislation allowed people with mental illness who had been languishing in psychiatric hospitals and institutions to move back into their communities and receive care there. The advancement of more effective psychotropic medications and new approaches to psychotherapy increasingly made community-based care for people with mental illness a reality. Research-based evidence started to demonstrate that mental illness could be treated more effectively and in a more cost-effective manner in community-based settings than in psychiatric inpatient settings.