Yeah, some state hospitals can be effin' scary, especially in the deep south. I was in Milledgeville for months. It was just plain nasty. There was a lice/crab/some kind of bug breakout and everyone had to shampoo with some stuff to kill it. Luckily, since I never hung out with anyone, I didn't get it. The bathrooms were nasty and the other patients were terrifying. Being 13, at the time, and one of the more well-behaved patients, I was at least allowed privileges to work in the auditorium as the popcorn girl. Augusta is pretty nasty, too, but not as bad.

Private hospitals are like resorts lol. Nice, carpeted, everything new and the food is amazeballz. Clean swimming pools, sport courts, nature trails, baseball fields, gyms, music/art therapy, you name it. If you're considered non-threat and well-behaved, you could always go for a nice walk outside on a pretty day and sit down and attempt to play a guitar lol (I ain't so good at guitar). The good ones had their scary moments but only when my GOOD insurance was ceased and became govt insurance did things get really ugly.

Local regional medical hospitals generally have a floor for psyche treatment and they aren't generally too bad. Here in Athens we have a separate, low security, voluntary place. It's just a little building where they specialize in addiction treatment and eating disorders but they will take anyone in crisis as long as you aren't considered very dangerous.

*One thing I didn't take into consideration in regards to my last post here in this thread is that when I was institutionalized, I was a child. That's why it was such a nightmare. Children get very little freedom and privileges compared to adults, unless, of course, the adult shows that they are very unstable and potentially dangerous, because children have to be monitored. Sadly, at age 10, I was considered a threat and not allowed to have a room mate. I admit, at the time, I gave them good reason.