I want to talk about something very sensitive, something many people were taught growing up, something I have seen with my own eyes. This is the issue of restraints. Restraints can be physical, and they can also be chemical. And for a long time, many of us were brought up believing that if a person has a mental disorder, restraining them is normal. We were taught that tying someone with ropes, chains, or locking them inside a room was a way of managing the situation. Others believe that giving strong medication just to make someone “calm” or “quiet” is the right thing to do. But I want to be very clear: this is not care.
Physical restraints include tying a person with ropes, chaining them, locking them in a room, or restricting their movement so they cannot act freely. I have seen this happen. I have seen people tied to beds. I have seen people locked inside houses. I have seen people restrained in ways that strip them of dignity.
Many caregivers believe they are preventing aggression or protecting themselves. But what actually happens is the opposite. When you restrain a person physically, you do not calm them. You increase fear. You increase panic. You increase trauma. What you intended as control becomes a trigger. The person feels trapped, powerless, humiliated, and threatened. Instead of calming down, the person often becomes more agitated. They shout more. They fight more. They resist more. The situation escalates because restraint turns fear into explosion.
Imagine someone stronger than you suddenly tying you up in your own home. Would you feel calm? Would you feel safe? Or would your body go into survival mode? The same thing happens to a person with a mental disorder.
Chemical restraint is when medication is used not to treat illness, but to control behavior. Some people believe that hospitals or caregivers give injections or pills simply to “cool down” a person. That belief is dangerous. Medication is not meant to tame human beings. Medication is not meant to silence people. Medication is not meant to make someone easier to manage.
Medication is meant to treat symptoms, improve quality of life, and support recovery. When medication is used purely to control behavior, without proper medical reasoning, consent, or assessment, it becomes abuse.
Giving medication just to make someone sleepy or quiet without understanding its effects can cause serious harm—physical harm, psychological harm, and even death. In many places, using chemical restraints without medical justification can lead to legal consequences, including prison. This is something people need to understand clearly: there is no medication meant to “tame” a person.
People with mental disorders are not prisoners in their own homes. Locking someone inside a house because they have a mental disorder is not protection—it is imprisonment. Tying someone because they are loud or restless is not care—it is punishment. Forcing medication without consent is not treatment—it is violation.
People with mental disorders feel fear, pain, anger, and humiliation just like anyone else. When restrained, they feel stripped of control over their own bodies. They feel unsafe in the very place that should feel like home. If someone locked you inside your house or forced medication into your body, you would not feel cared for. You would feel violated. The same applies here.
Supporting a person with a mental disorder requires patience, understanding, and skill—not force. Instead of restraint, caregivers should focus on understanding the person’s triggers, using calm communication, creating a safe environment, giving space when needed, seeking professional help appropriately and responding rather than reacting. Most agitation comes from fear, confusion, trauma, or unmet needs—not from a desire to cause harm.
People with mental disorders deserve freedom just like anyone else. Freedom to move. Freedom to choose. Freedom to exist without being controlled. When you remove freedom, you remove dignity. And without dignity, healing becomes impossible.
Restraints—whether physical or chemical—do not heal people. They traumatize them. They escalate problems instead of solving them. They turn homes into prisons and caregivers into guards. Supporting people with mental disorders is not about control. It is about respect. It is about safety without force. It is about care without violence. There are no restraints in real care. There is only understanding, patience, and humanity. This is something everyone needs to know.
Physical restraints include tying a person with ropes, chaining them, locking them in a room, or restricting their movement so they cannot act freely. I have seen this happen. I have seen people tied to beds. I have seen people locked inside houses. I have seen people restrained in ways that strip them of dignity.
Many caregivers believe they are preventing aggression or protecting themselves. But what actually happens is the opposite. When you restrain a person physically, you do not calm them. You increase fear. You increase panic. You increase trauma. What you intended as control becomes a trigger. The person feels trapped, powerless, humiliated, and threatened. Instead of calming down, the person often becomes more agitated. They shout more. They fight more. They resist more. The situation escalates because restraint turns fear into explosion.
Imagine someone stronger than you suddenly tying you up in your own home. Would you feel calm? Would you feel safe? Or would your body go into survival mode? The same thing happens to a person with a mental disorder.
Chemical restraint is when medication is used not to treat illness, but to control behavior. Some people believe that hospitals or caregivers give injections or pills simply to “cool down” a person. That belief is dangerous. Medication is not meant to tame human beings. Medication is not meant to silence people. Medication is not meant to make someone easier to manage.
Medication is meant to treat symptoms, improve quality of life, and support recovery. When medication is used purely to control behavior, without proper medical reasoning, consent, or assessment, it becomes abuse.
Giving medication just to make someone sleepy or quiet without understanding its effects can cause serious harm—physical harm, psychological harm, and even death. In many places, using chemical restraints without medical justification can lead to legal consequences, including prison. This is something people need to understand clearly: there is no medication meant to “tame” a person.
People with mental disorders are not prisoners in their own homes. Locking someone inside a house because they have a mental disorder is not protection—it is imprisonment. Tying someone because they are loud or restless is not care—it is punishment. Forcing medication without consent is not treatment—it is violation.
People with mental disorders feel fear, pain, anger, and humiliation just like anyone else. When restrained, they feel stripped of control over their own bodies. They feel unsafe in the very place that should feel like home. If someone locked you inside your house or forced medication into your body, you would not feel cared for. You would feel violated. The same applies here.
Supporting a person with a mental disorder requires patience, understanding, and skill—not force. Instead of restraint, caregivers should focus on understanding the person’s triggers, using calm communication, creating a safe environment, giving space when needed, seeking professional help appropriately and responding rather than reacting. Most agitation comes from fear, confusion, trauma, or unmet needs—not from a desire to cause harm.
People with mental disorders deserve freedom just like anyone else. Freedom to move. Freedom to choose. Freedom to exist without being controlled. When you remove freedom, you remove dignity. And without dignity, healing becomes impossible.
Restraints—whether physical or chemical—do not heal people. They traumatize them. They escalate problems instead of solving them. They turn homes into prisons and caregivers into guards. Supporting people with mental disorders is not about control. It is about respect. It is about safety without force. It is about care without violence. There are no restraints in real care. There is only understanding, patience, and humanity. This is something everyone needs to know.
