The National Committee for Mental Hygiene lobbied Congress to pass laws to do what?

• A. Improve the deplorable conditions of mental institutions
• B. Improve hospital nutrition
• C. Expand the federal highway system
• D. Regulate mass media

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is reform of mental health care in its early days. The National Committee for Mental Hygiene, part of the broader Mental Hygiene Movement led by Clifford Beers, pushed for changes to the harsh reality inside asylums. Their advocacy focused on making conditions humane and dignified: better sanitation, adequate staffing, proper medical treatment, safer living environments, and protections for patients’ rights. They lobbied Congress to pass laws aimed at fixing these deplorable conditions, not at infrastructure like highways, nor at regulating mass media, and not simply at nutrition. This emphasis on transforming the treatment environment in mental institutions is what makes improving those conditions the correct answer.