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(next: Natalie in denial )
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Natalie had a very traumatic childhood, and started to act out while still in elementary school. Her outbursts became more and more severe as she grew older, as she struggled to deal with the abuse and emotional scars inflicted on her at a young age. She had been committed to psych wards over and over again, often for failed suicide attempts -- but 48 hours was the limit for involuntary commitment for self-harm, and she never stayed a minute longer than she had to.

During these stays, she would sometimes open up to therapists about exactly what happened to her as a child and how these experiences had emotionally shattered her, but she never had any interest in accepting their help to put herself back together. Across multiple visits to the psych ward, Natalie eventually gave enough information for the staff to reconstruct a detailed picture of her childhood -- working through that amount of trauma would be very painful, and no one could blame her for wanting to run from that at all costs. They wished they could help her, but she had no incentive to deal with any of her issues when she knew she'd never be in the hospital for longer than two days at at time.

---

Everything changed yesterday, after Natalie tried to overdose on sleeping pills. After taking the whole bottle of pills, she had the impulse to drive to a liquor store, and she passed out while stopped at a red light. Her car drifted forward into the intersection, and another driver couldn't quite stop in time before hitting the passenger side of her car. There wasn't much damage, but the other driver was alarmed that Natalie was unconscious, and he called 911 right away. Natalie was rushed to the hospital, to an emergency room where she had been several times before. The staff at the ER correctly assumed that they should pump her stomach of whatever she had taken, and once she was stabilized she was sent upstairs to the psych ward.

The psychiatric staff were sad to see Natalie again, and they weren't looking forward to another useless two days with a combative patient. They set her up in her usual room while she slept off what she had taken, and a few minutes later the staff received the report of the car accident. The psychiatrist on duty quickly realized how different this situation was: though the limit for involuntary commitment for self-harm was 48 hours, potentially harming others allowed for an indefinite stay. Losing control of a vehicle during a suicide attempt definitely qualified for this, and the staff called an emergency meeting in which they discussed how best to treat Natalie. After some discussion, they settled on an experimental treatment plan which they thought had the best chance of helping her.

---

Natalie was very groggy as she awoke, and she wasn't surprised when she found herself in the psych ward at the local hospital. She tried to sit upright but found that her body didn't move as she was expecting, and quickly realized that she couldn't move much of her body. She was astounded to see that both of her legs and her entire upper body were in casts, completely immobilizing everything but her head, hips, fingers, thumbs, and toes. Natalie cried out in shock as she strained and thrashed against the casts, angrily trying to break free of her confinement. She managed to scoot forward on the bed, turn herself so she was facing the door, and dangle her legs off of the edge of the bed, right as she saw someone walk into the room. Natalie recognized the woman as one of the psychiatrists she had seen during a few of her previous stays; unlike many others, this doctor seemed to genuinely care about her, and she always seemed sad about Natalie's unwillingness to work through the trauma of her past. Natalie demanded to know what was going on and why she was in casts despite not being in any pain -- she guessed that the casts were part of some type of therapy, and shouted "you can't keep me like this for two days!" The doctor calmly explained that Natalie now qualified as potentially harmful to others in addition to herself, and so the staff could hold her indefinitely, even for weeks or months if necessary. The casts were part of an experimental age regression therapy that would encourage Natalie to work through the trauma of her childhood, and she would remain in the casts for the duration of her treatment. The psychiatrist said that she had to check on another patient but would be back as soon as possible, and she left Natalie alone for the moment.

Natalie's heart was racing as she processed what as happening, as she realized how little she could do while in the casts. The upper body cast rendered her completely helpless -- she couldn't feed, dress, or clean herself, and she could barely move around on her own because of the casts on her legs. While she was contemplating this, she examined the pattern of the casting material for the first time. She noticed teddy bears, dinosaurs, ducks, hearts, pacifiers, onesies, flowers; she was insulted that they would use that casting tape for an adult woman. The pattern seemed like it would be far more appropriate for a two- or three-year-old ... and all at once, her emotions caught up to her. She felt completely powerless, dependent on others for her most basic needs, and this feeling pulled her back into the darkest depths of her psyche, pushing her through walls that she had put up to protect herself when she was very young. She felt completely overwhelmed, and started to sob uncontrollably, closing her eyes in a desperate attempt to deny the reality of her situation. As the tears streamed down her cheeks, she was surprised to feel another hand clasp her fingers. She opened her eyes and was surprised to see the psychiatrist standing next to her bed, holding her hand, and giving a sad empathetic expression. She gave a weak smile and said "I'm very sorry that we had to do this, but I promise everything is going to be okay in the end."

I've been toying with this idea for a little while, but I went through several iterations of the casting material pattern before making something I liked. I also realize how unorthodox this kind of psychiatric treatment is, but I really like the idea of someone being trapped indefinitely in very restrictive casts, and this scenario seemed like a good fit for that

Credits:

"Cast Collection for Genesis 3 Female " by rizzo-cast licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0

"FREEBIE: G8 Female Expression Set " by Noone102000

Description

(next: Natalie in denial )
(gallery folder )

Natalie had a very traumatic childhood, and started to act out while still in elementary school. Her outbursts became more and more severe as she grew older, as she struggled to deal with the abuse and emotional scars inflicted on her at a young age. She had been committed to psych wards over and over again, often for failed suicide attempts -- but 48 hours was the limit for involuntary commitment for self-harm, and she never stayed a minute longer than she had to.

During these stays, she would sometimes open up to therapists about exactly what happened to her as a child and how these experiences had emotionally shattered her, but she never had any interest in accepting their help to put herself back together. Across multiple visits to the psych ward, Natalie eventually gave enough information for the staff to reconstruct a detailed picture of her childhood -- working through that amount of trauma would be very painful, and no one could blame her for wanting to run from that at all costs. They wished they could help her, but she had no incentive to deal with any of her issues when she knew she'd never be in the hospital for longer than two days at at time.

---

Everything changed yesterday, after Natalie tried to overdose on sleeping pills. After taking the whole bottle of pills, she had the impulse to drive to a liquor store, and she passed out while stopped at a red light. Her car drifted forward into the intersection, and another driver couldn't quite stop in time before hitting the passenger side of her car. There wasn't much damage, but the other driver was alarmed that Natalie was unconscious, and he called 911 right away. Natalie was rushed to the hospital, to an emergency room where she had been several times before. The staff at the ER correctly assumed that they should pump her stomach of whatever she had taken, and once she was stabilized she was sent upstairs to the psych ward.

The psychiatric staff were sad to see Natalie again, and they weren't looking forward to another useless two days with a combative patient. They set her up in her usual room while she slept off what she had taken, and a few minutes later the staff received the report of the car accident. The psychiatrist on duty quickly realized how different this situation was: though the limit for involuntary commitment for self-harm was 48 hours, potentially harming others allowed for an indefinite stay. Losing control of a vehicle during a suicide attempt definitely qualified for this, and the staff called an emergency meeting in which they discussed how best to treat Natalie. After some discussion, they settled on an experimental treatment plan which they thought had the best chance of helping her.

---

Natalie was very groggy as she awoke, and she wasn't surprised when she found herself in the psych ward at the local hospital. She tried to sit upright but found that her body didn't move as she was expecting, and quickly realized that she couldn't move much of her body. She was astounded to see that both of her legs and her entire upper body were in casts, completely immobilizing everything but her head, hips, fingers, thumbs, and toes. Natalie cried out in shock as she strained and thrashed against the casts, angrily trying to break free of her confinement. She managed to scoot forward on the bed, turn herself so she was facing the door, and dangle her legs off of the edge of the bed, right as she saw someone walk into the room. Natalie recognized the woman as one of the psychiatrists she had seen during a few of her previous stays; unlike many others, this doctor seemed to genuinely care about her, and she always seemed sad about Natalie's unwillingness to work through the trauma of her past. Natalie demanded to know what was going on and why she was in casts despite not being in any pain -- she guessed that the casts were part of some type of therapy, and shouted "you can't keep me like this for two days!" The doctor calmly explained that Natalie now qualified as potentially harmful to others in addition to herself, and so the staff could hold her indefinitely, even for weeks or months if necessary. The casts were part of an experimental age regression therapy that would encourage Natalie to work through the trauma of her childhood, and she would remain in the casts for the duration of her treatment. The psychiatrist said that she had to check on another patient but would be back as soon as possible, and she left Natalie alone for the moment.

Natalie's heart was racing as she processed what as happening, as she realized how little she could do while in the casts. The upper body cast rendered her completely helpless -- she couldn't feed, dress, or clean herself, and she could barely move around on her own because of the casts on her legs. While she was contemplating this, she examined the pattern of the casting material for the first time. She noticed teddy bears, dinosaurs, ducks, hearts, pacifiers, onesies, flowers; she was insulted that they would use that casting tape for an adult woman. The pattern seemed like it would be far more appropriate for a two- or three-year-old ... and all at once, her emotions caught up to her. She felt completely powerless, dependent on others for her most basic needs, and this feeling pulled her back into the darkest depths of her psyche, pushing her through walls that she had put up to protect herself when she was very young. She felt completely overwhelmed, and started to sob uncontrollably, closing her eyes in a desperate attempt to deny the reality of her situation. As the tears streamed down her cheeks, she was surprised to feel another hand clasp her fingers. She opened her eyes and was surprised to see the psychiatrist standing next to her bed, holding her hand, and giving a sad empathetic expression. She gave a weak smile and said "I'm very sorry that we had to do this, but I promise everything is going to be okay in the end."

I've been toying with this idea for a little while, but I went through several iterations of the casting material pattern before making something I liked. I also realize how unorthodox this kind of psychiatric treatment is, but I really like the idea of someone being trapped indefinitely in very restrictive casts, and this scenario seemed like a good fit for that

Credits:

"Cast Collection for Genesis 3 Female " by rizzo-cast licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0

"FREEBIE: G8 Female Expression Set " by Noone102000