Medical Restraint Straitjacket

Young, Cute and Menaced, Per Usual

“ John Carpenter ’s The Ward,” his first feature since the disappointing “ Ghosts of Mars ” (2001), continues the painful decline of a director who seems more nostalgic for past glories than excited about new ideas. Quaintly old-fashioned in style, plot and special effects, this familiar tale of female derangement and institutional abuse is too tame to scare and too shallow to engage.

Set in a brooding Oregon asylum (played by the Eastern State Hospital near Spokane, Wash.) in the 1960s — presumably to allow the writers, Michael and Shawn Rasmussen, free rein with medieval treatment protocols — the film feels as confined as the asylum’s fetching young inmates. This could be because each of them is allotted exactly one personality trait apiece: the artist (Lyndsy Fonseca), the flirt (Danielle Panabaker), the infant (Laura-Leigh) and the wild card ( Mamie Gummer , whose recent appearances as a razor-sharp lawyer on “The Good Wife” reveal a talent far beyond what’s expected of her here).

Into this pack variety of nut case is Kristen (Amber Heard) - the rebel - an amnesiac whose blonde shrink (Jared Harris) wants to know why she set fire to a farm house while dressed in his underwear. Kristen, for one, would like the identity of the ghoul who stole his blanket at night and hunts in the corridors of hospitals. Considering that it is confined to the room the most populous in the history of mad-bin files, that identity should not be too difficult to understand.

Before we do, however — in a final, threadbare reveal that’s visible from the cheap seats — Kristen’s companions will encounter the intruder in a series of set pieces as retro as the television programs bleating from the ward’s ancient set. Few audience members under 50 will recognize the snippet of “ What’s My Line? ,” but almost everyone will be familiar with the creepy medical staff, crashing thunderstorms and body-invasion interludes. Sadly, in a post- “Saw” world, electroshock therapy no longer delivers the jolt it used to.

Much of the time the forces behind “The Ward” seem wistful for the 1980s, Mr. Carpenter’s most memorable decade. Back then, whether working with a Stephen King story like “Christine” (1983), the beautifully restrained sci-fi romance “Starman” (1984) or the anti-capitalism classic “They Live” (1988), he poked at our insularity and materialism with B-movie glee. Here, his jumpy camera and occasionally arresting widescreen compositions are pleasing yet devoid of tension or surprise. The problem is not that we can’t unsee “ Saw ” but that Mr. Carpenter — unlike his genre colleague Sam Raimi — can’t look forward for looking back.

Unfit To Be Tied: The Realities of Restraint - Asylum Squad Side Story

Restraints are still used in most psychiatric hospitals - at least, here in Canada, and probably in most of the Western world, I'd say. Since falling ill with psychosis, I have had some experiences with both seclusion rooms and restraints, sometimes both at the same time. This article discusses the myths and realities of contemporary psychiatric restraint, as well as my own experiences: The most common image of the mental patient is probably that of some poor helpless loony tied up in a strait-jacket, locked in a padded cell. Though still predominant in many modern films that involve psychiatric hospitals, the strait-jacket, for the most part, has been phased out as a method of containing "out-of-control" patients, especially since the introduction of major tranquilizers (AKA anti-psychotics). Apparently, strait-jackets are still used in prison settings, but I know for a fact that they were phased out at some point in the 70s, at least in my part of Canada, as a means of controlling those confined to hospital. I don't know the exact details of how or why this garment was phased out, but it probably had to do with a combination of factors, including the obvious fact that it was both a degrading article, but also especially dangerous if applied poorly, was ill-fitting, or if the patient was left to lounge around in it for too long. Blood would pool into the arms, causing severe cramping, and many injuries resulted from patients attempting to remove the jacket by dislocating their arms. Many medical/restraint companies still manufacture strait-jackets and similar restraints, but they don't sell them to just any Houdini with a credit card - as I mentioned, these garments are sold mainly to institutions that deal with dangerous criminals. As far as I've seen, the only restraints still used in Canadian hospitals are the 4 & 5 point bed restraints, the hand mitts, and handcuffs/leg irons in forensic ward settings. (This list does not include ambulatory restraints, which are predominantly used to prevent patients from falling off of gurneys while being transported, or restraints for wheelchairs, or any other kind of safety restraint.) 4 point restraints are applied to the wrists and ankles, 5 points include the wrist and ankle restraints, plus a strap that crosses the upper torso, so the patient can't sit up.

Physical Restraint, Chastity Belt, Escapology, Hoj?jutsu, Straitjacket, Handcuffs, Physical Restraint, Hogtie, Gag, Swaddling, Self-Bondage

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