Before 1946, there were no solo psychiatric practitioners at all in NH. In 1965, there were fewer than a dozen psychiatrists in the State. At that time, members of the APA generally belonged to the Northern New England Psychiatric Society (NNEPS) which was headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. During this period, the NNEPS covered most of Massachusetts, along with Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. The majority of psychiatrists in these states belonged to the NNEPS.

The number of both private and institutional psychiatrists in NH began to increase rapidly. The psychiatrists of NH and Vermont felt the need to form separate state branches. This culminated in a psychiatric section meeting of the combined NH and Vermont Medical Societies in Burlington, VT in 1968, during which one prominent Vermont psychiatrist exclaimed “what right do those people in Boston have to call themselves the Northern New England Psychiatric Society? They are way down south!!" 

Shortly after this meeting, however, many NH psychiatrists (who were mostly APA and NNEPS members) met in Hanover and decided unanimously to form a NH state branch. The Constitution and Bylaws were drawn up, and the New Hampshire Psychiatric Society (NHPS) was formed. The first annual meeting was held on May 23, 1973 for our inaugural 53 active and 19 affiliate members. 

Our first president was James W. Dykens, MD who was Commissioner of Mental Health for NH. Since the time of Dr. Dykens, we have been fortunate to have a succession of able presidents elected annually to ensure that the NHPS can continue to actively address important issues within the state that affect psychiatrists and their patients.

Within our first year, an educational meeting in Hanover brought together lay groups and other stakeholders. We started a movement that lead within a few years to legislation guaranteeing appropriate psychiatric coverage on health and hospital insurance policies. 

Vigorous recruiting efforts in the 80's led to growth in participation. This came as a response to legislators and regulators becoming more intrusive into the practice of psychiatry while also becoming less responsive to the efforts of psychiatrists to help in social issues affecting our state. 

During the early 80's the NHPS offices were separated physically from those of the NH Medical Society, where they had been since our state branch was established. The executive functions of the Society were administered by Richard E. Clough at that time. In 1991 the headquarters returned to the offices of the NH Medical Society, where it has been ever since. This has allowed us to maintain close ties with the state medical society. 

Some of our achievements at the turn of the century have been passage of a comprehensive parity bill. We successively advocated against passage of a bill that would have banned the use of ECT in children under 16 years of age; we provided testimony to legislators, educating them on how certain medications are provided to children with behavioral disorders. We successfully argued against passage of a bill that would have changed the “Not guilty by Reason of Insanity" plea to "Guilty but Insane". We successfully argued against a bill that would have led to medical records being expunged six months after a patient had been released from the state hospital. We have also worked diligently in developing a coalition of health care providers and consumers that are opposed to psychologist prescribing privileges; we have continued to work hard to educate the legislators as to what psychiatrists do and we now have much higher visibility in the legislature than in the past, thanks to the efforts of recent presidents and executive boards. In the interceding decades, we have made concerted efforts to provide opportunities and mentorship for trainee and early career psychiatrists.

The NHPS has represented our profession for over 50 years in our state, and our important work continues. Our latest efforts have included introducing and advocating for bills that enforce mental health parity, ensure payment of the Collaborative Care Model, and expand telehealth access.