|
The Story of the Mental Health Bell
During World War II, future leaders of the National Mental Health Association worked in state mental hospitals. There, they witnessed the deplorable and inhumane treatment of patients with mental illnesses who were chained to the hospital walls. This experience inspired the men to devote their time to improving the lives of all those who suffer from mental illnesses, and changing the way America thinks about persons with mental illnesses.
In 1950 the NMHA chose a bell as their symbol. Two years later, volunteers at the Mental Health Association’s National Headquarters in New York collected the metal restraints from hundreds of mental hospitals across the country and piled them in the building’s lobby. These restraints were then shipped to the McShane Bell Foundry in Baltimore, Maryland, where in 1953 they were dropped into a crucible and cast into a 300-pound bell. Nothing could proclaim hope for those who have mental illness more dramatically than a bell cast from the actual chains and shackles used as restraints for persons with mental illnesses.
To many, a bell symbolizes freedom and liberty. For the 40 million Americans affected by mental illnesses, the bell serves as a reminder of the more insidious chains of stigma and discrimination that still bind people with mental illnesses.
Today the Mental Health Bell stands as a national symbol for the mental health movement.
The inscription on the bell reads:
“Cast from the shackles which bound them, this Bell shall ring out for the mentally ill and victory over Mental Illness.”
The Bell is displayed at the NMHA’s Headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.
|
