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Clifford Whittingham Beers

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Nationality
  
American

Role
  
Autobiographer

Name
  
Clifford Beers

Spouse(s)
  
Clara (Jepson) Beers


Clifford Whittingham Beers wwwnaswfoundationorgpioneersimagesbeersphotojpg

Full Name
  
Clifford Whittingham Beers

Born
  
March 30, 1876 (
1876-03-30
)

Occupation
  
Founder of the "National Committee for Mental Hygiene" (1909)Founder of New Haven's Clifford Beers Clinic (1913), the first outpatient mental health clinic in the United States

Known for
  
Founder of the American Mental Hygiene MovementAuthor of A Mind That Found Itself (1908)

Parent(s)
  
Robert Anthony BeersIda (Cooke) Beers

Honors
  
Honorary President of the World Federation for Mental HealthChevalier Legion d'Honneur (1933)

Died
  
July 9, 1943, Providence, Rhode Island, United States

Books
  
A mind that found itself, The Mental Hygiene Movement, A Mind That Found Itself by Beers


Organizations founded
  
Mental Health America

Chapter Twelve


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

Beers was born in New Haven, Connecticut to Ida and Robert Beers on March 30, 1876. He was one of five children, all of whom would suffer from psychological distress and would die 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 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 Mental Health Connecticut. In 1909 Beers founded the "National Committee for Mental Hygiene", 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.

References

Clifford Whittingham Beers Wikipedia


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