Dr benjamin rush biography geddy martin

Pennsylvania Hospital's Influence on the Field of Psychiatry. Benjamin Rush: "Father of American Psychiatry". Benjamin Rush, the "father of American psychiatry," was the first to believe that mental illness is a disease of the mind and not a "possession of demons. Rush served on the Pennsylvania Hospital medical staff from until the time of his death in Rush graduated from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland in In , he went to London and Paris and returned to Philadelphia in and at once established himself in the practice of medicine.

He was elected to the Chair of Institutes, Medical and Clinical Practice of the University of Pennsylvania in where he is known to have told his students: "Attend the poor, they are your best patients, God is their paymaster. Tranquilizing Chair Dr. Benjamin Rush designed two mechanical contrivances to aid in the treatment of the insane.

Dr benjamin rush biography geddy martin: Rush was born in Pennsylvania

The belief at the time was that "madness" was an arterial disease, an inflammation of the brain. Pictured here is the "tranquilizing chair" in which patients were confined. The chair was supposed to control the flow of blood toward the brain and, by lessening muscular action or reducing motor activity, reduced the force and frequency of the pulse.