Benjamin Rush, the Father of American Psychiatry

Benjamin Rush is the father of American psychiatry. He was an extremely interesting character. A doctor by profession, he addressed various fields of health, including mental disorders. One of his first works on the subject was An Inquiry Into the Influence of Physical Causes Upon the Moral Faculty: in 1786. However, his most famous book was Medical Inquiries and Observations, Upon Diseases of the Mind. He wrote it in 1812. It’s believed to be the first book of the new continent to be written on psychiatry. Indeed, his interesting notes boosted this branch of medicine in America. “Unless we put medical freedom in the Constitution, the time will come…