For centuries, mental institutions have been the most common way to treat people with mental disabilities. However, they were neither safe nor hygienic. Critics argued that hospitals harmed their patients rather than helped them, and mental illness was unfair if a person had not proven dangerous to others. In 1955, the first antipsychotic drug was introduced, making it possible to treat people for serious mental illnesses. Shortly thereafter, John F. Kennedy made a law declaring that people could not be hospitalized against their will unless they posed a threat to others. After the implementation of this law, mental patients were "deinstitutionalized," which, according to the Encyclopedia of Psychology, is the process of transferring patients with mental disorders or developmental disabilities from long-term institutions, which isolate the patient , to more integrated community based mental health services. Today, more than 1.8 million of the 4.8 million people with serious mental disorders living in the community tend to experience more freedom and can live more normal lives. They also have more activities during the day, which is great for those deinstitutionalized patients who have benefited from their transfer. Unfortunately, there are many other patients who are often homeless, isolated and victimized. Critics point out that many patients who have been transferred from psychiatric hospitals to nursing or residential homes do not always have comprehensive staff or equipment to meet the needs of the mentally ill. Many mentally ill people who have been released from institutions have been reinstitutionalized in jails or prisons. Only one in three of these patients reports receiving treatment while incarcerated. Another problem that mentally ill people face is discrimination. The community at large is often afraid of people with mental illnesses and thinks they are