Clifford W. Beers: Advocate for the Insane

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.

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.