I wasn't talking about the film, I was talking about the book which is substantially different from the film and a, at least semi, autobiographical work. However, unlike the book I do have the film on hand and in the scene where Suzannah arrives in the mental hospital she asks "shouldn't my parents sign this" and they tell her she is commiting herself, because she is over eighteen.

Anyway, thanks for the information. I was just curious because I am aware the system is different in the US and spent a good portion of my A-Levels studying psychiatric instituions and representations thereof and was interested in gaining more knowledge of what it's like in the US now, rather than historically.