About
Mission
The Bell Story
Sign Up To Receive MHA Information

The Mental Health Bell Story

During the early days of mental health treatment, asylums often restrained people with mental illnesses by using iron chains and shackles around their ankles and wrists.

In the early 1950s, the National office issued a call to asylums across the country for their discarded chains and shackles. The McShane Bell Foundry melted down these inhumane bindings and recast them into a sign of hope: The Mental Health Bell.

Now as the symbol of the Mental Health America – National, and its affiliates, 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 Bell rings out hope for improving mental health and achieving victory over mental illness.