62 Means of restraint in psychiatric establishments for adults Extract from the 16th General Report [CPT/Inf (2006) 35] Preliminary remarks 36. In its 8th General Report covering the year 1997, the CPT addressed the issue of involuntary placement in psychiatric establishments for adults. In this context, the Committee made a number of remarks concerning the restraint of agitated and/or violent patients. During the intervening nine years, the debate over the use of restraint has continued to fire passions, with different psychiatric traditions advocating alternative approaches for managing such patients. In many psychiatric establishments, recourse to means which limit the freedom of movement of agitated and/or violent patients may on occasion be necessary. Given the potential for abuse and ill-treatment, such use of means of restraint remains of particular concern for the CPT. Consequently, visiting delegations examine carefully the procedures and practice in psychiatric establishments as regards restraint as well as the frequency of resort to such means. Regrettably, it would appear that in many of the establishments visited there is an excessive recourse to means of restraint. The CPT believes that the time is ripe to expand upon its earlier remarks and would welcome the comments of practitioners on this section of the General Report. It is in this spirit of constructive dialogue, with a view to assisting health-care staff in performing their arduous tasks and providing patients with appropriate care, that the following remarks are made.