@LostInParadise
I did not know that psychiatric patients were still placed in isolation rooms That is rather barbaric. The only justification that I can think of is that they present a threat to others 1) I don’t know about today, if they still use isolation rooms. 2) They were placed in there because they were a danger to themselves or to others, 50 years ago they were just starting to widely using anti-psychotic medications like Thorazine.
How often does that happen? It depended on the patient and had to be a written order (like a prescription) from a doctor. It could only be done for a length of time less than 4 hours at hospital and once a day, they had to be observed by a member of the staff.
Do the patients spend the rest of their lives in isolation? No