Clifford Beers
A great reformer has passed on. Clifford Whittingham Beers died on July 9th, 1943, at Providence, U.S.A., but his fine enthusiastic and farseeing spirit has left behind it work which persists and grows. At a time when such ideas as his were regarded as almost too progressive, and, in some quarters indeed, as subversive and revolutionary, he, a recovered patient, demonstrated the value of individual study of each patient, and a more hopeful attitude towards the whole question of insanity and its treatment. He gained support from some of the best men in America, both doctors and others, amongst whom Professor William James, the psychologist and writer, stands out.
As a man he left no stone unturned in his work. He was encouraging, idealistic, and persuasive, and never lost sight of his goal?the treatment of man to enable him to reach the best that he is capable of in a well balanced body, mind and spirit. The immense help that his wife gave him contributed very largely to his capacity for unremitting labour for so many years.
Clifford Beers established an international reputation as the founder of the Mental Hygiene movement over thirty-five years ago. He first attracted public attention after publishing his remarkable book, ” A Mind that Found itself”, which describes his experiences and the treatment he received in hospitals while himself under- going mental treatment. The wide interest which this aroused won him the support of many prominent Americans, and also of the Rockefeller Foundation, the Commonwealth Fund and the Milbank Memorial Fund, as a result of which he organized the Connecticut Society for Mental Hygiene, from which emanated the National Committee for Mental Hygiene in New York and the many Mental Hygiene Societies throughout the United States.
Mr. Beers was especially interested in the founding of the National Council for Mental Hygiene in England in 1922,and attended the Association’s first Annual Meeting. Thereafter he kept in close touch with its work and progress, and on those occasions on which he visited Europe he never failed to spend some of his time with the Council. During a visit to this country in 1937 he had the honour of being received by the Council’s President, the late Duke of Kent. Through his inspiration Mental Hygiene organizations were established in no less than 53 countries, and close liaison was maintained with all of these by the setting up of an International Mental Hygiene Committee. The first International Congress on Mental Hygiene, organized by Mr. Beers himself, was held at Washington, D.C., in May, 1930, and was attended by <pver 4,000 persons, including delegates from Mental Hygiene and other social welfare organizations from all parts of the globe. Mr. Beers retired from active work with the movement in 1939, and his death occurred after a long period of ill-health.
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