The History Of Our Symbol, the Mental Health Bell
Cast from shackles which bound them, this bell shall
ring out
hope for the mentally ill and victory over mental illness.
—Inscription on Mental Health Bell
During the early days of mental health treatment, asylums often restrained people
who had mental illnesses with iron chains and shackles around their ankles and wrists.
With better understanding and treatments, this cruel practice eventually stopped.
In the early 1950s, Mental Health America issued a call to asylums across the country
for their discarded chains and shackles. On April 13, 1956, at the McShane Bell
Foundry in Baltimore, Md., Mental Health America melted down these inhumane bindings
and recast them into a sign of hope: the Mental Health Bell.
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Maryland Gov. Theodore McKeldin and Mrs. A. Felix DuPont in 1953 pour the metal
made from melted chains used to restrain people with mental illnesses to create
the Mental Health Bell.
Now the symbol of Mental Health America, the 300-pound Bell serves as a powerful
reminder that the invisible chains of misunderstanding and discrimination continue
to bind people with mental illnesses. Today, the Mental Health Bell rings out hope
for improving mental health and achieving victory over mental illnesses.
Over the years, national mental health leaders and other prominent individuals have
rung the Bell to mark the continued progress in the fight for victory over mental
illnesses.
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