Padded cell

A no longer in use padded cell at the Old Melbourne Gaol in Melbourne, Australia. Photographed in 2012.
A woman in a seclusion room, 1889

A padded cell or seclusion room is a controversial enclosure used in a psychiatric hospital or a special education setting in a private or public school, in which there are cushions lining the walls and sometimes has a cushioned floor as well. The padding is an attempt to prevent patients from hurting themselves by hitting their head (or other body parts) on the hard surface of the walls. In most cases, an individual's placement in a padded cell is involuntary.

Other names used are rubber room,[1] padded room, time-out room, calming room, quiet room, or personal safety room.