Four times here - last was 2006 so things may have changed. 1) Avoid the psych floor at your local hospital. You DO NOT want to be there this is generally where the people picked up by the cops end up and there's no differences in level of care. Meaning you might be a rather normal depressed person locked in with detoxing drug addicts with psychotic symptoms. This brings me to point 2) freestanding psych facilities are generally exponentially better. For starters they group similar patients into wards so depressed voluntary admits are generally grouped together - often on a ward that doesn't have "quiet" or isolation rooms. You also, depending on the facility can leave under supervision to go eat meals in the cafeteria, have time outside. Also a larger facility is likely to have a program/counselors on staff for certain issues like abuse, PTSD, dual diagnosis (sobriety) etc. You don't get that on a 20 something bed ward at a local hospital (which are always locked wards you can't leave)

Do your research, see what facilities are near you and take your insurance. Even if you have to go to the ER (for example suicidal) you can request to go to the facility of your choice. it's much easier to transfer a voluntary admit than to get a hold to make someone stay at whatever psych unit is attached to that ER.

My experience: 2 hospitalizations at a private hospital on the high functioning depressive ward where I got the cafeteria trips, outside time etc. A third admission where when they moved into a facility that did not have an outdoors and ended up on a unit where a lot of people were brought in involuntarily. Fourth and final hospitalization was the psych ward at a local hospital horror story I mentioned.