National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences is a multidisciplinary Institute for patient care and academic pursuit in the frontier area of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences. The Lunatic Asylum which came into being in the latter part of the 19th Century was renamed as Mental Hospital in 1925 by the erstwhile Government of Mysore. This hospital and All India Institute of Mental Health established in 1954 by the Government of India were amalgamated on 27th December 1974, and thus was formed the autonomous National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS). The priority gradient adopted by the Institute is service, manpower development and research. Multidisciplinary integrated approach is the mainstay of this Institute, paving the way to translate the results from bench to bedside. On November 14, 1994, NIMHANS was accorded the status of Deemed University by the University Grants Commission, with academic autonomy.
A unique model of a successful partnership between the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Karnataka, NIMHANS has been declared an Institute of National Importance by an Act of Parliament (38/2012).