The Tranquilizing Chair | This treatment device was designed by Benjamin Rush, the “father of American psychiatry,” in the early 1800s. Supposedly the restriction of the patient’s activity and stimulation would have a calming effect by restricting the blood flow to the patient’s brain. Although it seems barbaric today, it was intended as a humane alternative to the straitjacket at that time. In actuality, it did neither harm nor good.