To first explain the history of SAMHSA, most of you must be wondering what the acronym stands for- the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. However, it was not always called SAMHSA. ADAMHA, or the Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration, came before SAMHSA and was responsible for mental health in the country. ADAMHA specialized in research, but also provided services to those suffering from a decline in their mental health. A slight change in opinion moved ADAMHA’s mental health research over to the National Institute of Mental Health, or NIMH. This was officially done in 1992 by the ADAMHA Reorganization Act. Along with allowing NIMH to take over research, the act also fully got rid of ADAMHA. Now that the research part of the job was with NIMH, the mental health services side of ADAMHA needed to be taken care of. Therefore, SAMHSA was created to head the services. Once SAMHSA was introduced, the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) was formed to focus specifically on mental illness. Under CMHS, another division was created- the Division of Prevention and Traumatic Stress. On a side note, SAMHSA is part of the Health and Human Services Department. The SAMHSA administrator also serves as the assistant secretary between HHS.
SOURCE:
Jaffe, DJ. “Insane Consequences: How the Mental Health Industry Fails the Mentally Ill.” Prometheus Books, 2017. Accessed 5 August 2022.
Out of My Mind 