In many cases the Mentally ill were put into "tubs " of ice....as a calming process when they became aggitated.....I would submit that is probably what your "strange room" was.....I would also submit if some one was gonna force my fat one into a vat of ice cubes while tied in a rubber sheet.....it would take several of them to GET IT DONE>....in other words it was accepted at the time as theraputic....when in reality it was punitive.....