The basic criteria for being hospitalized in a mental health unit is if the person is a danger to thier self and or others - suicidal, self injury.

Other reasons people have been know to need to be hospitalized is for medication stabilizing, or they are experiencing more then what the person normally experiences and handles on delusions and hallucinations....

There are lots of reasons people sign thierself onto a mental health unit- volluntary commitment. There are lots of reasons why people are signed in without their concent - involluntary commitment.

One thing that happened to me - I signed myself in volluntarily and then after getting on the unit that satus was changed by the staff psychiatrist so that I could not sign myself back out so know that here in the USA just because a person signs thier self in volluntarily it does not necessarily mean that status will remain volluntary and does not nessesarily mean that you can sign yourself back out. Once on the unit you are put through the intake evaluation process and if the staff feels you need to stay there for the 14 days after the 72 hour observational period volluntary status can and does get changed to involluntary status meaning you no longer have control over your treatment plans and when you can leave the facility.

So if you are seriously considering inpatient care consider putting your wishes for treatment and so on in official form. Her its called Declairation for Mental Heath Treatment. These are legal forms that clients fill out and name a representative should they be deemed unable to make their treatment choices. By having a representative if the client is deemed unable to make their treatment decisions (unconscious, not mentally coherent, involluntary commitment and so on) the mental health unit treatment team must honor your wishes by following that treatment plan you set down. If they want to change anything they must obtain your representatives permission (so make sure who you choose as a representative is someone who will honor your wishes and knows what you would not want to happen on the unit). The only other way the mental health unit treatment team can change your treatment planns set down in that form is if they go to court and prove why your treatment plans as laid out in the forms do you harm in your present state of mind.