We’ve probably all seen TV shows or movies such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (starring Jack Nicholson), where an individual with a mental illness is placed in a straitjacket in a psychiatric hospital due to being aggressive or out of control. These images are often disturbing and hard to forget. Further, they perpetuate the myth that this is how people with mental illness are treated in psychiatric facilities when they become violent or unpredictable.

Having worked in a psychiatric hospital for well over two decades, I’d like to separate the myths from the truth about how aggressive behavior is currently managed in today’s inpatient mental health facilities. This is important to understand so we can fight the ever-persistent stigma surrounding this issue.

It’s disheartening to know that people still continue to experience negative and distressing experiences related to the use of restraints in psychiatric facilities. My hope, though, is that by describing more optimal standards of care, we can help stimulate discussion and encourage additional facilities to adopt more humane and compassionate approaches to treatment.

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