======================================================================
=                     Clifford_Whittingham_Beers                     =
======================================================================

                            Introduction
======================================================================
Clifford Whittingham Beers (March 30, 1876 - July 9, 1943) was the
founder of the American mental hygiene movement.


                             Biography
======================================================================
Beers was born in New Haven on March 30, 1876. He was one of five
children, all of whom would suffer from psychological distress and
would spend time in mental institutions, including Beers himself (see
"Clifford W. Beers, Advocate for the Insane"). He graduated from the
Sheffield Scientific School at Yale in 1897, where he was business
manager of 'The Yale Record' and a member of Berzelius.

In 1900 he was first confined to a private mental institution for
depression and paranoia. He would later be confined to another private
hospital as well as a state institution. During these periods he
experienced and witnessed serious maltreatment at the hands of the
staff.  His book '[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11962 A Mind That
Found Itself]' (1908), an autobiographical account of his
hospitalization and the abuses he suffered, was widely and favorably
reviewed, became a bestseller, and is still in print.

Beers gained the support of the medical profession and others in the
work to reform the treatment of the mentally ill. In 1908 Beers
founded the  "Connecticut Society for Mental Hygiene", now named
[http://www.mhconn.org Mental Health Connecticut]. In 1909 Beers
founded the "National Committee for Mental Hygiene", renamed "National
Mental Health Association", now named "Mental Health America", in
order to continue the reform for the treatment of the mentally ill.

He also started the Clifford Beers Clinic in New Haven in 1913, the
first outpatient mental health clinic in the United States.

Beers became Honorary President of the World Federation for Mental
Health.

Beers was a leader in the field until his retirement in 1939. He died
in Providence, Rhode Island, on July 9, 1943.

The Extra Mile in Washington, D.C., selected Beers as one of its 37
honorees. The Extra Mile pays homage to Americans like Beers who set
their own self-interest aside to help others and successfully brought
positive social change to the United States.


                            Bibliography
======================================================================
*Clifford Beers, 'A Mind That Found Itself', Pittsburgh and London:
University of Pittsburgh Press, 1981
*Norman Dain, 'Clifford W. Beers, Advocate for the Insane',
Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1980


                           External links
======================================================================
* [http://www.cliffordbeers.org Clifford Beers Clinic]
* [http://www.cliffordbeersfoundation.co.uk The Clifford Beers
Foundation]
*
*
* [https://mhanational.org Health America (MHA)]


License
=========
All content on Gopherpedia comes from Wikipedia, and is licensed under CC-BY-SA
License URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford_Whittingham_Beers