August 6, 1999

From its inception in1844, the American Journal of Insanity (forerunner of the American Journal of Psychiatry) published reports of psychiatric activities in Europe. The organized effort regarding international mental health in the United States can be credited to Clifford Beers, who, after his recovery from manic-depressive illness, organized the Connecticut Society for Mental Hygiene in 1908 and the National Committee for Mental Hygiene in 1909. Although the committee's first efforts were directed at improving the treatment of patients in mental hospitals, prevention of mental illness and preservation of mental health soon became important missions.

The formation of the Canadian Mental Hygiene Society in 1918 led Beers to promote the idea of international mental hygiene activities. His tremendous organizing and marketing abilities culminated in 1930 in the First International Congress. President Herbert Hoover was its honorary president. European countries also had begun to organize mental hygiene societies, and an organization known as the International Committee was formed in 1919. In 1923, while Beers was attending a meeting in Paris of the European members of the committee, plans for the 1930 congress emerged.

The preparatory work for the congress was complex, from obtaining financing ($132,000 donated) to appointing working committees. The work was shared by many countries, 22 of which had existing mental hygiene societies.

The purpose of the conference was "to exchange information, experience, and consideration of mental problems growing out of nervous and mental disease, mental defect, and emotional malady of the individual to his personal and social environments. . . , to consider world cooperation and more effective promotion of mental hygiene. . . , to consider how best to care for and treat the mentally ill, [and] to prevent mental illness and conserve mental health." Other goals were to create worldwide interest in mental hygiene and to influence public policy for increased governmental and philanthropic expenditures.

The planning for the congress also included mental hygiene tours to facilities in Boston, New York City, New Haven, and Philadelphia. The directory A Guide to Places of Mental Hygiene Interest in the U.S. was prepared in conjunction with the congress.

Hundreds of participants from psychiatry, the social sciences, organizations related to mental health, and lay people were involved in the conference's organization. The program dealt with three main areas: community problems, clinical and sociological problems, and administrative problems. Speakers from a number of countries were chosen to address the congress, and papers were distributed in advance; a 10-minute summary of each was presented at the meeting, followed by brief discussion. English, French, and German were the official languages, with translations readily available.

The congress, which was held in Washington, D.C., attracted more than 3,500 people from 50 countries. William H. White, M.D., superintendent of St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C., served as president of the congress, and Beers as secretary general. The congress's 12 vice presidents were American; 26 honorary vice presidents represented foreign countries.

Transcripts of the speeches and papers for the congress were published in two volumes. The books are available in the APA library.

The occasion of the congress served also to dissolve the existing International Committee and establish the International Commission for Mental Hygiene representing 29 countries.

The Second International Congress was held in Paris in 1937, and a third in London in 1948. At the London meeting, the commission was disbanded, and the World Federation for Mental Health was organized. The WFMH recently celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Frankwood Williams, M.D., editor of the Proceedings of the 1930 congress, wrote in the preface, "Their chief significance [is to] present a picture, as accurate as possible, in one series of meetings, of the status of mental-hygiene thinking throughout the world in the year 1930. They will serve as a landmark by which future progress may be gauged."