padded cells
Soft-walled confinement
A padded cell is a room in a psychiatric facility or prison whose walls, floor, and sometimes ceiling are covered with soft material to prevent occupants from injuring themselves.
The term evokes images of severe mental illness and institutional confinement, making it a common reference in horror films and dark humor.
Figuratively, suggesting someone belongs in a padded cell implies they are crazy or behaving irrationally.
- psychiatricOf mental health treatment
- asylumShelter from persecution
- cushioningSoftening force or fall
- sanitariumMedical recovery facility
- isolationComplete separation from others
seclusion · bughouses · rubber room · white walls · soft surfaces · confinement · safe room · de-escalation techniques · secure · detention · locked door · safety · mazes · trauma care · containment · soundproofing · echoes · straitjacket
padded cellsopen spaces
Unoccupied expanses or gaps
freedom · public spaces · common rooms · community living · home
padded, padding, pads, cell, cells, celled, cellular, cellar