here in NY people being released after three days doesnt say whether a mental hospital is good or bad.

when a person is released after only three days here it means they were only in the hospital for a 72 hour observation for what ever mental or physical problem that they were having.

example...

I was in a hospital for 3 days (72 hours) so that I could be observed while on a certain medication, the medication could be adjusted and then when the meds were at the correct dosage without causing me the symptom they needed to observe and fix for me, I was released.

I was in the hospital for 3 days (72 hours) due to my arm feeling foreign to me. the three day observation gave the hospital time to do tests and discover I was not psychotic or having a dissociative problem, that the problem was a physical one.

I was in the hospital for 3 days (72 hours) for a sleep study. since I had mental issues it was decided I would be on the mental unit during the sleep study instead of the medical ward.

I was in the hospital for 3 days (72 hours) because there were no beds on the medical unit when my heart was giving me problems.

there are all kinds of reasons why a person would be in a mental ward / mental facility for only 3 days. those three days are called 72 hour observations. all it means is the person is having a problem and treatment providers want to watch, do tests if needed and diagnose what the problem is.

Directly related to state mental hospitals many across the USA are now closed down or are being closed down.

those that are still in use are primarily for people who have committed crimes (murder, rape....) and as part of their defense for doing the crime they use the insanity plea... (my mental disorder made me do it.) the court has them do a psych evaluation and decides whether their mental disorder still can cause them to commit crimes and if the crime they did commit was because of their mental disorder. if so they are court ordered to a state mental hospital or other mental facility that handles criminals who have committed crimes because of their mental disorder.

here in NY we no longer have a "state mental hospital" we have many local hospitals that have locked mental health units. We have many mental health facilities, but none are "state mental hospitals" all our mental facilities and hospital mental health units handle patients of all levels of mental problems including those who have committed crimes.