Menninger family summary

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Menninger family.

Menninger family, U.S. physicians and pioneers in psychiatric treatment. Charles Frederick Menninger (1862–1953) was born in Tell City, Ind., and began practicing medicine in Topeka, Kan., in 1889. He saw the benefit of group medical practice after visiting the Mayo family’s clinic in 1908. His son Karl (1893–1990) was born in Topeka and received psychiatric training in Boston. In 1919 the two founded the Menninger Diagnostic Clinic for the practice of general medicine and psychiatry. With Charles’s youngest son, William (1899–1966), they established the Menninger Sanitarium and Psychopathic Hospital (1925). Their belief that the mentally ill should be treated, not merely institutionalized, attracted attention and other scientists, and they made significant strides in establishing psychiatry as a legitimate science. In 1931 the sanitarium became the first training facility for nurses specializing in psychiatric care, and in 1933 it opened a neuropsychiatric residency program for physicians. They formed the Menninger Foundation in 1941 and the Menninger School of Psychiatry in Topeka four years later.

family Summary

Family, a group of persons united by the ties of marriage, blood, or adoption, constituting a single household and interacting with each other in their respective social positions, usually those of spouses, parents, children, and siblings. The family group should be distinguished from a household,

Psychiatric disorders and the stigmas associated with them

psychiatry Summary

Psychiatry, the science and practice of diagnosing, treating, and preventing mental disorders. The term psychiatry is derived from the Greek words psyche, meaning “mind” or “soul,” and iatreia, meaning “healing.” Until the 18th century, mental illness was most often seen as demonic possession, but

medicine Summary

Medicine, the practice concerned with the maintenance of health and the prevention, alleviation, or cure of disease. The World Health Organization at its 1978 international conference held in the Soviet Union produced the Alma-Ata Health Declaration, which was designed to serve governments as a