Chemical restraint is referred to as the administration of certain medications to control or subdue agitated clients from behaviour that is harmful to themselves or others, including staff members attending to them, specifically where the medication has not been prescribed for the treatment of a formally identified physical or mental illness, when it is not being used for direct therapeutic reasons.

Section 6(4) of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 states that restraint is when someone uses force (or threatens to) to make someone do something they are resisting, and when someone’s freedom of movement is restricted, whether or not they are resisting.