| Mental Health America’s Centennial Celebration |
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MENTAL HEALTH AMERICA OUR HISTORY Mental Health America is the country’s leading nonprofit dedicated to helping ALL people live mentally healthier lives. With our more than 300 affiliates nationwide, we represent a growing movement of Americans who promote mental wellness for the health and well-being of the nation—everyday and in times of crisis. Founded in 1909, we are celebrating our Centennial this year. We began our work when Clifford W. Beers, a young businessman who struggled with a mental illness and shared his story in his autobiography “A Mind That Found Itself,” created a national citizens’ group (then called the National Committee for Mental Hygiene) to promote mental health and improve conditions for children and adults living with these health problems. It was a revolutionary act and attracted prominent national leaders of the time, including the leading national scholars such as William James and Adolf Meyer and prominent families such as the Phipps, Rockefellers and Vanderbilts. Our name represents how fundamental mental health is to the overall health and well-being of every American. The bell image in our logo is a graphic representation of an actual 300 lb. bell, the Mental Health America Bell. It was forged more than 50 years ago with iron chains and shackles that bound people in mental asylums. It serves as a vital reminder of our past and the progress we have made, and a powerful symbol of our vital mission to help all Americans live healthy and productive lives. OUR GOALS Our message is simple: Good mental health is fundamental to the health and well-being of every person and of the nation as a whole. We want all people to understand how to protect and improve their mental health, and know when to seek help for themselves or someone close to them.
The good news is we now have rigorous science about what works for good mental health. This know-how has been amply evidenced and communicated in a White House conference on mental health, a President’s Commission, Surgeon General’s Reports, Institute of Medicine reports among other prestigious sources. We have proven techniques that help children and adults resist threats to their mental health. We have effective treatments that combat the symptoms of mental illness. We have community programs that help people recover more quickly and get back to their lives. We have model policies that are working to support long-term resilience, recovery and empowerment. What we lack is a national response commensurate to the magnitude of the problem. We believe that as a nation we must approach the issue of mental health with the same urgency as other health conditions. OUR WORK We advance our mission by:
OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS Since our founding, advocacy has formed the core of our work. Through nearly a century of advocacy at the national, state and local levels, Mental Health America has sought to protect the rights of individuals with mental illnesses; to undo decades of neglect and substandard care; to seek access to equitable, accessible and culturally competent services; and to seek new funding and reinvestment in both infrastructure and services in the community. Our work has yielded major legislative and advocacy achievements, including the recent passage of federal mental health parity legislation. We helped plant the seeds of parity in the 1970s and nourished its progress, marshalling resources and giving power to the ideas behind it. A series of national town hall meetings we organized galvanized national support and put it front and center on the congressional agenda. We also played key roles in the development and passage of the Community Mental Health Centers Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act and legislation that reduced the discriminatory co-pay for outpatient mental health care in Medicare.
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