Clifford Beers (1876-1943) understood the challenge when he launched the citizen's volunteer mental health movement. Beers had been a patient in private and public mental institutions in the early 1900's where he was subjected to harsh and ineffective treatment. It was out of this nightmare that his dream was born: prevention of the onset of mental illnesses and increased attention to the humane treatment of people with mental illnesses.

The first step toward making his dream a reality was his book, "A Mind That Found Itself," which told the story of his wretched confinement and ultimate recovery. But the most important thing Beers wrote about was the creation of a national organization to change the status of people with mental illnesses, and to alter public attitude toward them. Beers envisioned a network of state societies doing the same work as his national organization. The Connecticut Society for Mental Hygiene was the first, and eight months later on February 19, 1909, the National Committee for Mental Hygiene was founded.

Today's National Mental Health Association was established in 1950 out of a merger of the National Committee for Mental Hygiene with two other organizations. It's 320 affiliates, of which this chapter is one, works toward new goals to accomplish the mission set by Clifford Beers 1909. This mission is being accomplished today through public education programs, advocacy, referral services, and community support projects.