I have seen it many times. It's a good movie and I think it is realistic in that "back in the day," there were places like that. My aunt was actually hospitalized in the 60s, and although it was a hospital/home for the mentally ill, her illness was caused by a physical trigger (she was unknowingly drugged at a school function.) She was there for at least a year, but possibly longer, from what I've gathered, and it took several years for her to fully recover. People talk about it but they "explain." If you know what I mean. And she actually has very few memories of the experience and never speaks of it.

It's places like that which still make people afraid that they're going to be "locked up" or sent away. The hospital where my aunt was has since been closed and replaced with the short term stay facility.