Can Sensory Rooms be used as an Alternative to Sedation in Psychiatric Hospitals?

Psychiatric hospitals have a history of using barbaric methods to deal with violent, suicidal, and other undesirable patient behaviors. Nurses would physically restrain patients, sedate them with medication, and even lobotomize them. Psychiatric nurses are seven times more likely to be assaulted compared to nurses serving different populations according to the NHS, which is why they tend to use these methods. However, researchers are investigating the potential benefits of sensory rooms for helping violent patients.

Sensory rooms are meant to enhance the sensory experience of patients in hopes that they calm down. The room can target visual, auditory, tactile, and smell. The ideal situation would be for an expert to come in and tailor the room to each individuals’ preferences, but this would be very expensive.

In the study, most patients experienced a decrease in feelings of agitation, aggression, and stress which may promote the use of more intense methods of restraint. Unfortunately, some people actually exhibited an increase in aggressive behaviors. This was likely due to sensory overload which can happen in a room meant to elevate the sensory experience. Again, this is why it’s important to tailor each sensory room to each patient’s needs.

Hopefully in the future sensory rooms can be used to keep psychiatric patients calm before any violence occurs since it is way easier to prevent a meltdown than to soothe one.