h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

One thing to consider is whether a hospital is actually a better place to be than a prison. (See "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.") Fact is, when a person is in prison, they have some very well-defined, though limited, human rights. Very, very few of those remain once one is committed to a hospital. And those are mostly in the hands of one's next of kin: they can sign for electric shock therapy or a lobotomy, or what have you. Suppose it was your next of kin that drove you crazy in the first place? (Is anyone innocent enough to think that cannot happen?) Also, prisoners are generally treated like adults, if nasty ones. Patients are treated more like nasty or pathetic children.