Editing Pennsylvania Hospital (section)

== Benjamin Rush ==

'''Dr. Benjamin Rush''' (1745-1813) was a physician, Founding Father, and signer of the Declaration of Independence who served on the Pennsylvania Hospital staff from 1783 until his death in 1813. Rush is known as the "'''Father of American Psychiatry'''" for his revolutionary approaches to treating mental illness.<ref name="mutter">{{cite web |url=https://muttermuseum.org/stories/posts/pennsylvania-hospital/ |title=Pennsylvania Hospital |publisher=Mütter Museum |access-date=December 22, 2025}}</ref>

=== Rush's Background ===

Rush graduated from the College of New Jersey (Princeton) and received his medical degree from the University of Edinburgh. He studied in London and Paris before returning to Philadelphia in 1769, where he established a medical practice and joined the faculty of the College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania).

=== Contributions to Psychiatry ===

At Pennsylvania Hospital, Rush implemented humane reforms in the treatment of mentally ill patients, who were previously kept in the hospital's basement under deplorable conditions. His innovations included:

* Advocating for treating mental illness as a medical condition rather than demonic possession
* Improving living conditions for psychiatric patients
* Developing new therapeutic approaches including occupational therapy
* Publishing the first American textbook on psychiatry, "Medical Inquiries and Observations upon the Diseases of the Mind" (1812)

=== Other Achievements ===

Beyond psychiatry, Rush was:
* A signer of the Declaration of Independence
* Surgeon General of the Continental Army
* Founder of Dickinson College
* A prominent abolitionist
* An advocate for public education and women's education

Rush's portrait appears on the seal of the American Psychiatric Association.