Bell of Hope

“Cast from shackles which bound them, this bell shall ring out hope for the mentally ill and victory over mental illness.” ~ inscription on NMHA Bell

During the early days of mental health treatment, asylums often restrained persons labeled mentally ill by iron chains and shackles around their ankles and wrists. With better understanding and treatments, this cruel practice eventually stopped. Issues about use of restraints and “chemical strait-jacketing” still arise in today’s mental health system, but the practice of controlling inmates with shackles and chains is in the past. The bell is a sign that persons labeled mentally ill are also God’s children and worthy of respectful care, community support and full participation in society.

In the early 1950s, the National Mental Health Association (NMHA) issued a call to asylums across the country for their discarded chains and shackles.

On April 13, 1953, at the McShane Bell Foundry in Baltimore, MD, NMHA melted down these inhuman bindings and recast them into a sign of hope: the Mental Health Bell. Now the symbol of NMHA, the 300-pound Bell serves as a powerful reminder that the invisible chains of misunderstanding and discrimination continue to bind people accused of being mentally ill. Today, the Mental Health Bell rings out hope for improving mental health and achieving victory over the discrimination and hatred accompanying labels of mental illness.

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 hatred and discrimination against persons labeled mentally ill.