A Somatic Interpretation of the Psychiatry of Benjamin Rush
CHRIS HOLMES M.D.1
1 Straight intern in pediatrics at Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles
Benjamin Rush's position in history as a humanitarian and as a conscientious physician is secure. But he cannot be understood or his views properly appreciated unless he is recognized as a child of the 18th century. Rush came to hold a unitary view of disease, and this inevitably dictated his views regarding the nature of mental illness and its treatment by somatic remedies such as bleeding, purging, and warm and cold baths.
