The ties that bind - A case report about restraining a mentally unwell family member at home for over a decade

This is a case report describing a patient, with schizophrenia, who was physically chained by her mother in their house for more a decade. Illness factors, family dynamics, stigma, lack of mental health literacy and cultural roles contributed to her chaining. To our knowledge, this is the first case report that examines the prolonged use of physical restraints by family members on a patient in a developed urban setting and that explores the cultural and ethical issues surrounding this phenomenon. We have concluded that there remains a need for a national level approach to increase mental health literacy, reduce stigma and promote existing psychiatric community health services in a culturally sensitive manner.