A Mind That Found Itself A Memoir Of Madness And Recovery

In the groundbreaking book, Clifford Beers tells what it was like to be institutionalized at a time when mental illness received little attention or respect. "A Mind that Found Itself" is Beers' own story, as one of five children who all suffered psychological distress and were all confined to mental institutions at one time or another. Beers, who wrote the book after his own confinement, gained the support of the medical profession and was a leader in the mental hygiene movement. "A Mind that Found Itself" has been an inspiration to many mental health professionals in their choice of a profession. It also did much to help the rest of the world see mental health issues as a serious disease. "A Mind that Found Itself" is an excellent read for anyone seeking to better understand, or treat, mental illness.

When he was twenty-four years old, Clifford Whittingham Beers was interred in a mental asylum. He remained there for three years, battling his mental illness. In his autobiography, A Mind That Found Itself, he recounts the civil war that took place in his mind. The publication of this book in 1908 caused huge public outcry and began an inquiry into the state of mental health care. It contributed significantly to the beginnings of the modern mental health movement. As part of our mission to publish great works of literary Fiction and nonFiction, Sheba Blake Publishing Corp. is extremely dedicated to bringing to the forefront the amazing works of long dead and truly talented authors.

This book is a memoir of ravages of mental illness. A Mind That Found Itself tells the story of a young man who was gradually devastated by mental illness. His caring family sent him to a series of psychiatric hospitals, but he was cruelly treated, and his brief rational moments became less and less. His ultimate recovery is the victory of the human spirit.

In 1900, after suffering a mental breakdown, Clifford Whittingham Beers was confined to an asylum for three years. After his recovery he wrote this biography, which aroused a storm of protest and public concern about care of people with mental illness. In the eyes of many the modern mental health movement can be traced to this publication.Notice: This Book is published by Historical Books Limited (www.publicdomain.org.uk) as a Public Domain Book, if you have any inquiries, requests or need any help you can just send an email to [email protected] This book is found as a public domain and free book based on various online catalogs, if you think there are any problems regard copyright issues please contact us immediately via [email protected]

This story is derived from as human a document as ever existed; and, because of its uncommon nature, perhaps no one thing contributes so much to its value as its authenticity. It is an autobiography, and more: in part it is a biography; for, in telling the story of my life, I must relate the history of another self-a self which was dominant from my twenty-fourth to my twentysixth year. During that period I was unlike what I had been, or what I have been since. The biographical part of my autobiography might be called the history of a mental civil war, which I fought single-handed on a battlefield that lay within the compass of my skull. An Army of Unreason, composed of the cunning and treacherous thoughts of an unfair foe, attacked my bewildered consciousness with cruel persistency, and would have destroyed me, had not a triumphant Reason finally interposed a superior strategy that saved me from my unnatural self...Clifford Whittingham Beers was the founder of the American mental hygiene movement.

In 1900, after suffering a mental breakdown, Clifford Whittingham Beers was confined to an asylum for three years. After his recovery he wrote this biography, which aroused a storm of protest and public concern about care of people with mental illness. In the eyes of many the modern mental health movement can be traced to this publication.

Clifford W. Beers was the founder of the American mental hygiene movement. Beers struggled with depression and paranoia for much of his life as he was first confined to a mental institution at the age of 24. Beers gained fame by writing A Mind That Found Itself, an autobiography published in 1908 on the abuse he suffered while in the mental institution. This book proved to be instrumental in reforming how the mentally ill were treated.

A Mind that Found Itself An Autobiography By Clifford Whittingham Beers This story is derived from as human a document as ever existed; and, because of its uncommon nature, perhaps no one thing contributes so much to its value as its authenticity. It is an autobiography, and more: in part it is a biography; for, in telling the story of my life, I must relate the history of another self--a self which was dominant from my twenty-fourth to my twenty-sixth year. During that period I was unlike what I had been, or what I have been since. The biographical part of my autobiography might be called the history of a mental civil war, which I fought single-handed on a battlefield that lay within the compass of my skull. An Army of Unreason, composed of the cunning and treacherous thoughts of an unfair foe, attacked my bewildered consciousness with cruel persistency, and would have destroyed me, had not a triumphant Reason finally interposed a superior strategy that saved me from my unnatural self. I am not telling the story of my life just to write a book. I tell it because it seems my plain duty to do so. A narrow escape from death and a seemingly miraculous return to health after an apparently fatal illness are enough to make a man ask himself: For what purpose was my life spared? That question I have asked myself, and this book is, in part, an answer. I was born shortly after sunset about thirty years ago. My ancestors, natives of England, settled in this country not long after the Mayflower first sailed into Plymouth Harbor. And the blood of these ancestors, by time and the happy union of a Northern man and a Southern woman--my parents--has perforce been blended into blood truly American.