Straight jacket

I don't know if this is the right place to put this.
I like the idea of a straight jacket because you are able to hug yourself and feel safe in the jacket.
Is this strange?

No, I don't think it's strange at all. It's all a matter of comfort - a need for something I too can identify with. It's the same thing when babies like to be swaddled.

Having seen many confined in a straitjacket at the state hospital for the mentally ill, I get claustrophobic at the mention of the word.

sounds great to me, like indi said its no different than swaddling a baby, what are kids but babies who have been around a while, whilst adults are babies who have been around longer!

Different strokes for different folks, I suppose.

I am very claustrophobic and would freak out if I were put in a straight jacket. It would not be a pretty picture.

I would have a panic attack...

Interesting perspective here... never would have seen a straight jacket as a positive tool before... now that I'm on a quest to learn how to "hug myself" I find the idea quite interesting...

Interesting question....I myself am claustrophobic as well, so I would be in full meltdown mode if I were ever restrained in a straitjacket -- however, I well understand Indie'sOK and yellowted's analogy to the comfort of swaddling.

On the flip side of that you wouldn't be able to stop hugging yourself or be able to hug someone else
I most definitely would not feel safe being under any type of confinement.
But this is PC so if that's what you like then so be it...here's a hug

lonely and scared,

That is a very interesting perspective. I haven't ever thought of it that way.

I have seen many people put into straightjackets when I was hospitalized, and those moments never did have a warm fuzzy feel that I suppose is a possibility. I just can't erase those images from my mind ~ and I know that I couldn't deal with being put into a straightjacket. No way!

Are you talking about a straight jacket, or a straitjacket? Not quite the same.

Temple Grandin found that a cattle press calmed down cattle and some other animals, and she devised one for herself, and found it quite helpful at calming herself too. But that was voluntary on her part, not something that was being done to her.

I remember reading about her. Wasn't she autistic or somewhere on that spectrum?

Yes, she is the one.

You might feel some comfort from what they call a weighted blanket or a sensory blanket. They often use these with people on the autism spectrum as well, but have been used in hospital trauma centers to help calm people.

I total understand the need you are expressing. You can google these on line. My p/doc told me about them and their use in the Trauma/PTSD unit in the hospital.

i too would find it extremely claustrophobic and way too confining. i'd panic.

I myself never been restrained in a straightjacket, however I have been strapped to beds... I'm not sure if "during the moment" I would enjoy it, but I always felt relieved after being restrained, because I knew I was under control, and in a safer enviroment than earlier.

I'm not sure exactly how many institutions in the US still use StraightJackets, I thought their use was trying to be minimized at best if not completely stopped, now 4 point restraints is a different topic. I for one, would be fighting like a SOB and they would have to shoot me with a taser before they could get me in one...

I use these. I got my first suit 4 years ago and now have 5. I have a form of autism and find the snug suits helpful.

http://forums.psychcentral.com/pictu...ictureid=18435

http://forums.psychcentral.com/pictu...ictureid=18436

http://forums.psychcentral.com/album.php?albumid=47

I added some pictures of me in my suits. im missing pictures of the yellow and black suit.

http://forums.psychcentral.com/album.php?albumid=47