U.S. National Institutes of Health

Clifford Beers, ca. 20th century

Courtesy National Library of Medicine

Clifford Beers founded an advocacy organization that became Mental Health America. In his 1907 book, A Mind That Found Itself, Beers described his experience as a patient at an asylum. He critiqued the physical abuse he experienced there, the institution’s untrained attendants, and the use of physical restraints and seclusion.

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