Adding Choice in an Hour One May Need It Most by Carol Coussons de Reyes

       While I have never been in secluded or restrained in a room by healthcare providers, I have slept in a restraint room.  The door was not locked and it was the only quiet space I could find for sleeping at the time.  I have witnessed seclusion and restraint procedures and they are very frightening to me, as a person with a mental health condition.  The fights that break out in hospitals are equally frightening. 

I had a brainstorm about this procedure that could make it more humane.  What if in the hour when a person is separated from the world, and at times immobilized by the hands of people they hardly know, choices were introduced?  Could this empower the individual to reach beyond the trauma of the moment? 

What if the person was offered a menu of choices during these procedures, like:

a)    Would you like someone in the room with you during the procedure?

b)   Would you like to see a particular image on the wall?

c)    Would you like to smell a particular scent that is soothing to you?

d)   Would you like to speak with someone who will listen? (I have never instigated a fight, but if I had I imagine that I would want to vent.  What if there was a ventilator available- someone to listen to the person rant?).

I don’t really have the expertise to understand what the result of such human touches might have on this procedure.  I do understand that seclusion and restraint procedures are about safety and not about punishment, so adding to this medical procedure seems to make sense to me.  It’s the same things that I do to deal with my trauma, find an image to hone in on and a scent that will place me in a better place upstairs in my mind.  If I didn’t have friends to call, when I’m angry, I’m not sure where I would be. 

All of these tools should be offered up entrance to the hospital, because perhaps having such tools available to practice with could prevent the procedure all together.