DOI: 10.36347/sasjm.2024.v10i05.035

Pages: 450-452

Physical restraint is used very often in psychiatry, as a means to control agitated and violent patients, in order to provide protection for the patient and others, after failure of alternative measures. Our cross-sectional descriptive study of 30 patients hospitalized in the psychiatry department of the university hospital MOHAMED VI in Marrakech, who have undergone physical restraint, over a period of 6 months; intended to describe the feelings and experiences of these patients in relation to physical restraint, and to determine the symptoms related to it. The analysis of the results revealed the following: a male predominance at 80%, the most frequent age group was between 31 and 40 years old. 57% of patients were diagnosed with schizophrenia, and the most common reason for restraint was agitation at 60%.We found that patients had mainly negative feelings during the period of restraint, with helplessness at 90%, loneliness at 73%, sadness at 60%, fear at 40%, anxiety at 36.6%, anger at 36.6%, humiliation at 16, 6% and injustice at16.6%.We also found unpleasant physical perceptions during restraint, with pain at 63.3%, sleep difficulties at 23.3%, cold at 16.6%, and thirst at 16.6%. On the other hand, the analysis of the traumatic experience of patients after the physical restraint, through the PCLS scale, revealed a low percentage (7%) of patients with a score compatible with PTSD. This indicates a less traumatic effect of restraint in our population compared to the Western world.