Clifford Whittingham Beers

Clifford Whittingham Beers ( born March 30, 1876 in New Haven / CT, † July 9, 1943 in Providence / RI ) is considered one of the founders of American psychiatry reform movement ( "Mental Hygiene Movement", dt: Mental Hygiene ) at the beginning of the 20th century. Clifford Beers suffered from a bipolar disorder and was after a suicide attempt in a clinic for the mentally ill ( " Insane Asylum" ) instructed, where he spent three years. The story of his illness and his sometimes terrible experiences in the clinic, he published an autobiography in 1908 in what was tantamount to a breach of taboo. The book was published in many editions and Beers ' resulting notoriety allowed him the establishment of the National Committee for Mental Hygiene, the forerunner to Mental Health America.

Life and work

Clifford Beers was one of five children of Ida and Robert A. Beers (1825-1916) and grew up in a family with long upper-middle class on the East Coast on. In his family have a predisposition for mental illness was present: all five siblings suffered in the course of their lives under these conditions; All five died in institutions for the mentally ill.

Beers attended until 1891 a Grammar School in New Haven ( CT) and then switched to a high school in the same place, whose completion he acquired in 1894. Shortly after his older brother suffered a first severe attack of epilepsy. Clifford Beers began in the autumn of 1894 his studies at Yale at the Sheffield Scientific School ( Yale's former Faculty of Science and Technology ), which he in 1897 with a BA completed. He should then make a career on Wall Street. During his studies, Clifford spent a lot of time with his sick brother, who died on July 4, 1900. The imminent death of his beloved brother and the fear itself to be epileptic, sparked at Clifford Beers an acute crisis, and he tried on June 23, 1900 by jumping from the window on the fourth floor of the house of his parents to suicide, survived but with injuries.

After his suicide attempt Clifford Beers in 1900 was admitted with symptoms of severe depression with paranoid elements in a closed private institution. Today, his diagnosis would probably be on Bipolar Disorder (Type I). Later he was transferred to another private hospital and then in a public mental hospital. During his stay in the institutions he was subjected to severe ill-treatment by the staff. After three years Beers took on the road to recovery the decision to make the states in the American psychiatric institutions publicly. To this end, he sat down at will partly from the different areas and "treatments" of the institution. For example, he was deliberately introduce into the department for violent patients, where he was tied 21 nights in a row in a soft cell in a straitjacket.

After his release, Beers wrote his autobiography, A Mind That Found Itself, for whose preface he could William James win. In 1908 he published the book, which instantly became a great success among the public. His autobiography was published in many editions and was translated into several languages. The book and its popularity enabled him to find supporters among psychiatrists, relatives of sufferers and progressive donors to begin a reform of psychiatry. In 1909 he and others founded the National Committee for Mental Hygiene, the forerunner of today's Association Mental Health America ( better known as the National Mental Health Association ). In 1913 he founded in New Haven / CT, the first psychiatric hospital with an outpatient program.

Beers did not confine his work to reform the United States. In 1918 he founded, together with the Canadian doctor Clarence Hincks ( 1885-1964 ), the Canadian National Committee for Mental Hygiene ( later Canadian Mental Health Association ). Beers was founded in 1920 and Hincks then the International Committee for Mental Hygiene, which was renamed the World Federation for Mental Health ( WFMH ) 1948. The WFMH was from its founding until the 1990s the only accredited at the UN NGO that dealt with mental illness. An important milestone on the way to WFMH as a recognized international organization was the International Congress on Mental Hygiene, the Beers and Hincks, 1930 in Washington, DC organized. The Congress was attended by more than 4,000 psychiatrists, psychologists and responsible in part for health policy.

Clifford Beers underwent until his death at the age of 67 years, repeated manic and depressive episodes. Nevertheless, he was until 1939, when he retired to retire, a leader in mental health reform movement active. He died in 1943 as a patient in a private psychiatric institution Butler Hospital in Providence / RI. His last attending physician was Arthur Ruggles (1881-1961), an influential representative of the mental health reform. Founded by Clifford Beers 1913 outpatient clinic in New Haven / CT still exists and bears his name. An international scientific foundation for the promotion of mental health, headquartered in London was named in 1996 by Clifford Beers.

Publications

• Clifford Beers: A Mind That Found Itself. New York 1908, ISBN 978-1-4218-3031-5. ( Text available at Project Gutenberg. )
• From the American transferred from Otto Reuter: A soul that found himself - autobiography of the founder of " spiritual hygiene". Schwabe, Basel 1940.