Institutionalization Timeline

  • First Lobotomy

    By the late 1950's, over 50,000 lobotomies were performed in the U.S.
  • Shock Therapy

    Electroshock therapy is first introduced as a treatment option for people with chronic mental illnesses.
  • National Institute of Mental Health

    Congress passed the National Mental Health Act in 1946 and it created the National Institute of Mental Health which researched ways to treat mental health in the community.
  • First Anti-psychotic Drug

    Chlorpromazine is the first anti-psychotic drug approved by the FDA and becomes a staple in asylums.
  • Community Mental Health Act

    John F. Kennedy signs the act to provide federal funding for the construction of community based preventative care and treatment facilities but wasn't properly funded.
  • Medicaid

    After Medicaid, states were incentivized to move patients out of state mental health hospitals and into nursing homes or general hospitals because program didn't cover "institutions for mental diseases".
  • Lanterman-Petris-Short Act

    Act makes involuntary hospitalization of mentally ill people extremely more difficult causing in number of mentally ill people in criminal-justice systems to double in 1968.
  • Mental Health Systems Act

    POTUS Jimmy Carter signed the act to fund more community health centers but only focused on a broad range of mental health needs which lessened the government's focus on meeting the needs of those with chronic mental illnesses.
  • Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act

    POTUS Raegan repealed the act through this new act, it shifted funding to the state. The process meant that community mental health center competed with other public needs like housing, food banks, and economic development, which often won instead.
  • Clozapine

    FDA approved clozapine to treat symptoms of schizophrenia which strengthened the prejudice against the mentally ill.
  • Great Recession

    Forced states to cut $4.35 billion in mental health spending in three years, being the largest reduction in funding since deinstitutionalization.
  • Affordable Care Act

    Act mandated that insurance companies must cover mental health care as one the ten essential benefits. Patient co-pays could be as high as $40 a session and the number of therapists visits could be limited.