I think if you know what you're getting out of it, you'll be OK. Don't expect any kind of real one on one care like you get with your therapist or psychiatrist. I saw them a grand total of twice during each week I was in. Like I said in my last post, if you're worried about hurting yourself of doing something stupid, inpatient is probably the best place to be.

If you're checking yourself in, you absolutely can choose where you want to go. No reason you can't drive to the hospital you want and say, "I need to be admitted please." The issue is involuntary admission. Most of the time you're stuck sitting pretty for at least three days by law. After that, the hospital can still choose to keep you around in the interest of stability. The one I had was good about stabilizing me, but I have had a "special" case too (see my "Anger at Hospitalization Rant" post on that).

Best advice I can give here regardless of how you are admitted is "You are your own best advocate." If you can make a case for something (within reason), my experience has been that the staff is generally happy to accommodate you.