I live in Canada where the laws about involuntary hospitalization are completely different than the US. In particular you have no statutory right to see a judge.

All it takes is two psychiatrist to agree to commit you for a month. Then they can go for longer periods of time up to 6 months at a time. You have a right to go to a review board but this is not a legal proceeding and you have very little rights. They are deferrential to the psychiatrists. I have had neighbors making complaints about me for years and have been hauled off many times for an involuntary psychiatric evaluation. I can't count how many times police have been to my house to check on my mental status. Over 100 times.

If you do get before a judge because of delays in the court system it could easily take a year to see one.

I have a regular psychiatrist and I trust him. However I don't trust anyone else. Even with him this fear of being grabbed from my house or my back yard or wherever I am and put in involuntary confinement typically for 3 or 4 weeks is just terrifying. I live in constant fear of this.

Being able to see a judge right away and having a high bar to confine someone is a real treasure in the US system.