ABOUT THIS BOOK

Norman Dain offers a compelling biography of Clifford W. Beers, whose lifelong battle against his own mental illness inspired him to become a champion for mental health. Beers' autobiography, A Mind That Found Itself, created a public outcry in 1908, as it chronicled Beers' experiences during his three-year confinement in an asylum. Despite his disability, Beers went on to found the National Committee for Mental Hygiene (now the National Association for Mental Health), the American Foundation for Mental Hygiene, and the International Committee for Mental Hygiene.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Norman Dain is professor emeritus of history at Rutgers University and the author of several books including: Concepts of Insanity in the United States 1789-1865; and Disordered Minds: The First Century of Eastern State Hospital in Williamsburg, Virginia, 1766-1866.

REVIEWS

“Vivid and believable. Carefully researched, well documented, and clearly written.”
—Library Journal

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Early Years: Crisis and Collapse

2. Stamford Hall

3. The Hartford Retreat

4. Connecticut Hospital for the Insane

5. Back in Circulation

6. Writing the Autobiography

7. Publication of A Mind That Found Itself

8. A Reform Movement Launched

9. The Connecticut Society and Founding the National Committee

10. "The Ox and the 'Wild Ass'"

11. Phipps "To the Rescue"

12. The National Committee in Action: The Salmon Years, First Phase

13. "Canning Salmon and Bottling Beers"

14. Branching Out

15. The First International Congress on Mental Hygiene

16. Traveling and Family Troubles

17. Twenty-Five Years After: Fame and Honors

18. Personal Interests

19. The Mentally Ill Intrude

20. Final Years: Crisis and Collapse

Epilogue

Notes

Index

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