Letter to the editor in response to "Is it time for international guidelines on physical restraint in psychiatric patients?".

The Mastrogiovanni case was a revolutionary case in the field of Italian forensic psychiatry. A recent judgment of the Court of Cassation has defined what the legal limits of mechanical restraint should be. On the other hand, even today, there is a gap in the scientific community about the presence of guidelines governing mechanical restraint. It is probably time to create specific guidelines to protect the psychiatric patient and the mental health worker.