The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is a modern research- and clinically-oriented institution for the field of mental health. The Institute is designed as a center for basic, experimental and applied research with a focus on research into neurobiological and psychosocial mechanisms associated with the emergence and course of the most serious mental disorders and the subsequent development and testing of new diagnostic and treatment methods. Another important task is the provision of analyzes and expertise for the state administration in the field of mental health care organization, including the currently ongoing reform of psychiatric care. Through its activities, it participates in the cultivation and development of the field not only on a professional level, but also in relation to the general public.

The clinical part of the institute provides standard and highly specialized inpatient and outpatient psychiatric care. At the same time, as the Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology of the 3rd Faculty of Medicine of Charles University, it provides undergraduate and postgraduate education both in clinical fields (psychiatry, psychology) and in the field of neuroscience.

NIMH is one of the directly managed organizations of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic and was established on January 1, 2015 by the transformation of the Prague Psychiatric Center.

The establishment of the National Institute of Mental Health was made possible by a project financed from the Research and Development for Innovation operational program with registration number CZ.1.05/2.1.00/03.0078. The total amount of the subsidy was CZK 971,000,000, of which CZK 825,350,000 was paid from the European Regional Development Fund and CZK 145,650,000 from the state budget of the Czech Republic.