The last time we checked in on Amanda Bynes, she showed up to a New York courtroom wearing a blue wig and gym clothes. That court appearance was about how she (allegedly!) threw a bong out of her window in front of a NYPD officer, and that case is still pending. That was two weeks ago. At some point, Amanda flew back to California and she’s still acting weird/crazy. So much so that she was put on a 5150 hold (also known as a “psychiatric hold”) on Monday night after she set a fire in the driveway of a stranger. Oh, good. She’s a pyromaniac now.
Amanda Bynes is currently hospitalized on a 5150 hold … after starting a small fire in the driveway of some random person’s house Monday night, TMZ has learned.
Law enforcement sources tell us, the fire department responded to the home in Thousand Oaks, CA around 9pm — near where Amanda was just accused of trespassing — after someone noticed the small blaze in the driveway. The sheriff’s department was subsequently called when Amanda was found standing near the campfire.
When sheriff’s deputies arrived, they questioned Amanda about what she was doing, and why she was doing it — and based on her answers, they determined she needed to be hospitalized on a 5150 hold. Translation: her answers were really wacky.
A 5150 hold is an involuntary hospitalization for mental evaluation. Amanda can only be held for 72 hours though.
Britney Spears was famously taken in on a 5150 in 2008 during her pre-conservatorship period.
TMZ just spoke to the woman whose driveway Amanda built the fire on, and she tells us, she had no idea what was going on until cops knocked on her front door. She says cops asked her, “Do you know anyone by the name of Amanda Bynes, or why she would have some vendetta against you?” She said no … not surprising because the woman is elderly.
Cops then described to her that there was a young lady in her driveway, who had lit a fire and was carrying a “little red gas tank.” The homeowner says cops told her Amanda had burned part of her clothing.
Sounds about right. And by that I mean that absolutely none of this surprises me given Amanda’s behavior in the past year (and longer). The only thing that surprises me a little bit is that it’s the California justice system that is like, “Hey, this chick needs some psychiatric help!” New York didn’t do that. Is it because Amanda’s antics weren’t all that out-there in New York?
Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.
Bigfuckingsurprise!
add to that… aboutfriggintime.
Like Britney, I hope Amanda gets the help she needs.
I totally agree. I am so surprise that it’s taken soooooo long for it to happen.
I’m just surprised it didn’t happen sooner.
The woman whose driveway she burned lives near Amanda’s parents. I can’t help but wonder if, after all the nasty things she’s said about her parents, she mistook the woman’s driveway for her parents’ and meant to do harm to their property or even her parents themselves.
Her dog was doused in gasoline and she was lying on the ground waiting for the explosion. Seems like she was trying to go up in flames. Luckily the gas can didn’t explode. Very disturbing and sad all around.
OMG…hope the dog is ok! This chick needs some serious help.
OMG Poor dog!!!
Ugh. I wonder what happened to the dog–is he just wandering around that neighborhood alone now? Or was he taken to the pound? 🙁
TMZ doen’t know where the dog is right now, but it got burned and, once that person approached her in the driveway, she ran into a store to try to wash the gasoline off. She is . . . unwell.
I hope they find that poor dog!
I hope they find it! When she was holding that poor baby up in front of her as shied against the paps, it had the facial expression of ‘Please help me’.
Where are you getting this info?
Nevermind, pinky says tmz… I never go on tmz , unless its critical and I have no other options
TMZ is saying that the dog has been found and is safe! Amanda’s parents claimed it and are taking care of it.
oh good
i only opened the article to see what happened to the dog
Oh man…Pajiba suggested a possible self-immolation. How sad…I hope this girl can get the help she so desperately needs.
I read on Dlisted yesterday that her dog got burned in this, as well as her pant leg was on fire. I’m now completely over chuckling at her exquisite crazy… It’s not funny anymore. Hopefully she gets help
That poor animal!!! She should have never been allowed to have a dog. She can’t even take care of herself let alone a dog. She’s a sick, sick girl.
She hurt an animal who depended on her. There goes my sympathy. My only concern now is that she is not in a position to hurt another creature, animal or human.
OK she needs to be charged with animal abuse. No sympathy for her. Disgusting.
Yeah and she should never be allowed to have that dog again. If she gets well or not. That makes me so sad. For the animal not her crazy ass. You can’t sympathize too much when someone has been nutty for a long while and refuses to help themselves. I have zero sympathy for her. None.
Do you people not know what mentally ill means? She needs serious help and should be legally barred from ever having animals but animal abuse charges are for those who knowingly hurt them or hurt them through willful neglect. That does not apply here because of her obvious mental breakdown. This was not her crying for help this was her psychologically hitting a brick wall at 1000 mph. I am just grateful they found the doggy. But anyone suffering from a serious mental illness doesnt always have control of how they think or what they do. They deserve sympathy as well.
Shannon, your comment is so ignorant.
“you can’t sympathize too much when someone has been nutty for a long while and refuses to help themselves.”
People with mental illness often don’t know that they are ill. That is the nature of mental illness. Amanda has no idea what she is doing and when/if she recovers, she will likely feel very embarrassed about her behaviour.
When multiple people have reached out to try to help this girl and multiple people have told her she’s deranged, you don’t think she KNOWS OR HAS ANY IDEA she needs help?? I don’t buy that. Some sick people refuse to get help and that is the bottom line. I’ve know many mentally ill people in my day and some get help and some do not. I don’t feel sympathy for people that don’t help themselves. Call me ignorant. I’m cool with that.
WHAT!!?? She burned a dog? When all of this stuff began I thought she was trolling everyone. Now I know she’s messed up.
New York has different criteria for a psychiatric hold. She didn’t do anything to show she was a danger to herself or others, but when she set the fire, had it been in New York, she would have been taken in for a hold also, considering she was apparently behaving in a threatening manner and making no sense.
At the end of the WIC 5150, a doctor can deem her in need of more treatment/evaluation and hold her another 14 days on a 5250 hold (there has to be a probable cause hearing within 4 days of the 5250.) After that, there’s a 5270.15, which can hold her another 30 days (again with a probable cause hearing within 4 days of that hold).
Interesting. Thanks for the information.
I love that NY has these codes in place.
the WIC 5150, 5250 etc, are California. New York’s are a little different, but basically, the criteria is the same, the hold times are different.
I’ve practiced in both California and New York.
Thank you paranormalgirl. I’m glad to hear there’s a good chance she’ll be in for more than the 72 hours. She needs it.
Question for you, and I hope it’s not stupid. Does it say anything that she was concerned about her dog after her fire stunt went wrong? TMZ says she ran t liquor store to rinse him off.
I often see the possibility of schizophrenia in her, but there also seems to be an element of Impulse Control Disorder. She will do something impulsively, then get in the moment for a moment and have some ability to realize that something screwed up just happened and she has to make it right. Trying to wash off the dog seems like that. It’s so hard to say without actually treating her. It’s like armchair quarterbacking. I can see certain criteria for diagnosis, but it’s superficial because it’s coming from so many different sources with so many different agendas, none of them being Amanda herself.
I don’t think she intentially meant 2 harm the dog. It seems that she accidentally got gasoline on the dog & that’s why she ran 2 the shop 2 wash it off him. That probably saved her life.
This is long, long, LONG overdue. This chick needs serious medication. Help her before she really hurts herself or someone else.
I hope thus is enough to let her family have control and get her help.
Me too… One of the articles I read on another site mentioned that this random driveway is actually close-by where her parents are currently living. So hopefully, being close enough to actually SPEAK to her, they can figure out some way to help.
I’ve kind of been hoping for this too. I knew she’d have to do something extreme so her parents could legally get involved. I was just praying nobody would be hurt in the process. This girl needs help and it’s going to be really sad/scary if they let her out after a few days. I hope her parents are given the authority to take control and make decisions for her.
I dunno, I still have a hard time buying that it’s all mental illness. I still think she’s a huge a-hole.
just seems odd to me that what’s happening to Amanda mirrors what went on with Britney. granted the stunts are different but the outcome is the same. I know there are mental illnesses but some of this seems put on. But maybe I’m just a cynic.
Brit never tried self-immolation. When seeking attention, one usually doesn’t do it in ways which may be her last ever.
I don’t think Amanda did either. yeah she started a fire in a random’s yard and apparently got gasoline on her dog, if she had done it on purpose she wouldn’t have gone to liquor store to wash it off the dog.
I could be completely wrong and it could be a mental illness, but she’s still an a-hole.
Yeah I really don’t know…I think she might be both an ahole AND crazy.
I usually have a lot of sympathy for the mentally ill but Bynes’ mean-spirited behavior makes it difficult for me.
@TheOriginalKitten, The thing is, I don’t remember hearing anything about her being an asshole in the past. She only started the name calling and messed up behavior at some bizarre starting point, which leads me to believe that maybe it isn’t an inherent part of her personality and just an illness. Wasn’t she sort of squeaky clean? Unless that part was an act, I don’t know.
Some of the things she has done can be seen as humorous, now she just seems dangerous.
I think this is the story: she wanted to blow herself up – the gasoline got on the dog by accident thus she took care of the dog, but otherwise the full report sounds like she was going to set herself on fire, and even got some burns.
Yes, other people have set themselves on fire for ‘attention’ – you know, Indians (in Asia) who wanted to bring about the end to British colonialism, or Tibetan monks who strove to end Chinese oppression. Lets not mix apples and oranges here (THIS IS MORE FOR DOWNTHREAD).
Usual self-damaging-for-attention behavior is far less brutal/potentially final: cutting (not of wrists), drinking, stealing. THIS sounds like a very troubled girl, who as @Kiddo rightly noted, has not exhibited anything close to this kind of behavior until VERY recent past (despite being in the public eye for 13 years.
There was a blind some time ago about a starlet faking a breakdown so she could then stage a miraculous comeback. I think that’s feeding in part the idea that this girl is just ‘acting.’ I was wondering it myself, but setting fires (esp. in a way that could send you/a pet up in flames) crosses a line. Luckily it seemed to cross a legal line too and hopefully this is the ‘bottom’ she needs to get help.
Even if that’s what she’s doing, going to these lengths to get back in the limelight would at the very least be indicative of a personality disorder. Even if this behavior is all for the attention, she has some serious mental health issues.
True. But a personality disorder likely would have reared its head already, to a degree. I do agree that there is some mental illness even if part of the actions are for effect or staged.
A while ago I might have agreed with you, but while a sane person “acting crazy” would know that you can dye your hair, smoke pot, drink-drive, go nuts on Twitter, etc… in Hollywood and be forgiven, she tried to set fire to her pet pomeranian.
Animal cruelty goes way beyond acting out and well into the realm of mentally ill.
go and read TMZ, she didn’t set fire to her dog, she accidentally got gasoline on it and went to the store to wash it off. no where did it say she set it on fire.
After this incident, I don’t see how there’s any doubt about her mental health.
Mental illness and being an a-hole as you say are not mutually exclusive. It’s even possible that she told people she was faking, delusions are an unpredictable thing.
The problem is that if this was a calculation to then try and have a comeback…well generally you have to have something to come back to. Spears was a cash machine, of course they wanted her back. I’m sure many in Hollywood wish Bynes well, but is anyone anticipating her great return? Doubt it. If she did any of this on purpose she’s incredibly stupid; if she’s ill I wish her well.
And someone find that dog and get it to a safe home!
I’ve had patients who were tremendously difficult people, their diagnoses not withstanding. You absolutely can be mentally ill and a huge asshole.
Dammit paranormal girl!! I’ve been telling people I’m not really an a-hole! 😀
LMAO… you show no signs of being an asshole!
Has anyone read these? http://www.vanityfair.com/contributors/amanda-bynes
Not as insane as you might expect.
Eta: her columns, not Amanda.
You’re a giant huge idiot if you think someone is going to try to set themselves on fire just for attention (this is not counting political protests or stuff).
where did I say she set herself on fire for attention? go back and read again. she didn’t set herself on fire btw, it was a driveway near her parents home.
Slightly off topic, but several people that have made the news have set themselves on fire for attention. Just as several people self mutilate themselves for attention. Does anyone else recall the girl that carved a B into her cheek claiming Obama fans did it because she was Republican??
People are capable of doing anything for any reason.
This act makes me think she’s worse than Lilo. She’s certainly escalating faster.
Scratching a small part of your body and burning yourself are pretty freaking different things.
Well, I think it takes a certain personality to seek public adulation. Most famous people are just fine, but some have debilitating narcissism and insecurities. And both Britany Spears and Amanda Bynes were child stars – which seems to do a number on mental health. I’m really not surprised at the similarities.
The thing is during all her antics therenis some logical thought proccesses so i agree
Yea she is doing crazy things but she is also reigning herself back incright at the last minute
I say she is scamming n had to “raise the bar” so to speak
Well actually she’s made it no secret that she has been smoking a lot of weed, and weed-induced psychosis is a real thing. I have had friends who suffered from schizophrenic-like symptoms and mania because of chronic weed smoking. Having a brother with mental illness myself, I can tell you that people who suffer from psychosis lose their sense of empathy towards others. Unable to relate to how their actions or words might affect others, their behaviors tend to seem “asshole-ish” and self-centered. And in fact the behaviors are abhorrent, however they are not controllable. I hope she gets help and lets all wish her well.
I agree. I’m skeptical about whether her mental illness issues are for real or for attention. But one thing is for sure: she’s an asshole.
I really think she’s mentally ill. I used to work in the mental health field (actually, I still do to a lesser degree)and if I had to make a diagnostic guess I’d say she’s exhibiting signs of Schizoaffective Disorder as well as some Axis II personality disordered traits (narcissistic and borderline). I feel sorry for her-I really think she’s a sick girl. This goes way beyond being attention seeking or a fame whore.
I am a huge skeptic and cynic but this girl is clearly ill and has been struggling for some time. I’m surprised so many people think she’s faking for some comeback. What would be the point? People in our society don’t have much sympathy for the mentally ill, how could faking it help her? Being branded a “head case” never helped anyone. If she were spending this time working her career would be fine but she is not capable of that and she needs help. It’s sad so many people can’t see that.
I’m sorry, she can set fire to whatever hair she has left on her scalp and I still won’t buy “mental illness”. She is straight up attentionwh*reing from where I stand. If you look at her twitter feed and read between the lines you’ll see what I mean.
Totally agree. Something just doesn’t seem right. It doesn’t feel genuine. Some of her antics are too calculating and feel like they are put on.
Too bad she is showing signs of Schizophrenia and is being held longer. What an attention whore. Sad comments on here, no compassion fir someone who always handled herself well and turned bizarre, a loner, and clear mental illness.
@ Jayna
I totally agree. Several of the comments here are stunning examples of ignorance and arrogance.
Joaquin Phoenix’s little stunt was a huge disservice to the mentally ill. The fact that people can look at this woman’s deterioration and see it as her just being a jerk is truly sad.
She is sick. It’s very evident.
Mark my words, ladies: she is staging a big comeback a la Britney Spears. When this is all over she is going to drop a hiphop wannabe album a la Miley Cyrus.
She is already teaming up with Wacka Flocka Flame and hinting that she will only be in music videos on her twitter. All that amongst some really offensive tweets and, when it comes to ‘offensive’, she has tried every possible angle: she has made racist remarks, insulted not only Rihanna but all victms of domestic abuse, cancer patients, people with cleft lip, overweight people, people with eating disorders, unattractive people, and the list goes on. She also drops in many tweets about Drake because it worked the first time she did it, we gave her attention for saying she wanted him to ‘murder [her] vagina’. Also, she balantly lies in people’s face about the craziest shit: the vadge-slap, having her twitter account hacked, having a broken nose…
Call me a cynical, but I come from a family where everyone appears to have some sort of mental disorder, so trust me, I’ve dealt with all different types including schizophrenia and, although it manifests differently in each person, they only make you an a-hole if you ARE already an a-hole.
Sorry for this lament, but I get really upset when people try to excuse this spoiled brat’s narcissistic, egoistical, nonsensical and most of all @SSHOLE-Y behaviour as a MENTAL DISORDER, because THIS IS NOT what it is.
This is a staged meltdown so she can pull a staged comeback, because America f*cking loves a big comeback story, don’t you?
Also, for those who are worried because she set herself on fire, or that she set her dog on fire, she didn’t! She set a piece of clothing on fire, probably one of her million tops she doesn’t use anymore.
It seems like a perfect storm: A narcissistic personality + fading career + boredom/no purpose + smoking huge amounts of weed &/+ snorting/popping various drugs + young age + mental instability + apparent lack of solid family or friend support structure = DISASTER.
Oh gosh, this is way more than just a personality disorder. She tried to set herself on fire for God’s sake.
Exactly. Which is why multiple potential variables were added together to try to understand her irrational behavior.
I hope the puppy is ok. Gasoline got on him and she went into the store to wash it off. I hope the dog is ok and I hope Amanda actually get’s some help.
Mental illness or just plain old sociopathic behaviour, she’s an appallingly horrible person who has wielded her illness like a weapon, worrying and terrifying people everywhere she goes. She deserves no one’s sympathy, and I’d far rather see the resources that are being deployed on her crazy be given to the people that really need them and, most importantly, want them.
Having said all that, I’m glad she’s been removed from the streets, not for her, but for society. She’s a grown woman with (some) money and (a few) friends and family – let them hold her up. But the second she takes her crazy train on the road and starts harming anyone but herself…really, screw her.
And you just don’t understand mental illness.
Jesus, that just a terrible thing to say. Mental illness is an *illness* — it’s not something you can just stop doing because it’s hurting you or others. Some people are able to get themselves into treatment and that’s wonderful and admirable, but that doesn’t mean that everyone is capable of doing so. Most mental health issues mess with your perception of the world–you may not realize that you’re acting strange or hurting anyone, or you may know but literally be unable to stop. The idea that you’re an asshole who doesn’t deserve help unless you manage to obtain it on your own without doing anything too weird or scary in public is just so ignorant and wrong.
Thank you, esti. You said it better than I could have – spot on.
I second. My aunt was schizophrenic – and she was not only extremely intelligent — she was a good person. I understand that it’s hard to not pass moral judgements on people when they engage in obviously unacceptable behavior, but their worldview is impaired by the illness. It does not make them inherently “bad” or “evil”.
Thank you! This thread demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of mental illnesses and their severity.
Wow. This girl is severely mentally ill, and until she did somethng like this there was nothing her parents could do since she was an adult and resistent. Have a little compassion. Read up on what bipolar and manic depression is or listen to some people on here who have suffered with it as a lifelong illness.
I just love judgmental people like you and your disdainful remarks from your high perch wthout an ounce of compassion. My sister’s friend has a 19-year-old son who has been showing signs like this for two years now and he is violent at times, is combative, can’t hold down a job, school, makes bizarre decisions I won’t go into, and he self-medicates heavily with pot because of the anxiety he feels from his symptoms and doesn’t even understand himself. She can’t get him to go back to the doctor or to take his meds and worries constantly about him. But he was always her sweet little boy, and now it pains her to see him in this torment and the person he is. She knows it’s not him, that it’s the illness. But,of course, other people like you snark in the neighborhood how he’s lazy and a troublemaker to her and needs the law laid down or kick him out, never understanding his mental illness.
I’m not seeing depression or bi-polar in her. If anything, I am seeing perhaps an onset of schizophrenia – she is the right age for onset.
@Paranormalgrl, you’re right, they suspect Schizophrenia. So sad. I remember someone saying she heard voices at time, which would correlate. I was hoping it was a bipolar disorder and she would act out in manic moods. I remember my neighbor that my brother grew up with playing. He was so handsome and great in school and sports, and then schizophrenia by 19 or 20. How hard it must be for a parent to see a child that grew up so normally develop that. He was basically on meds and taken care of the rest of his life with menial jobs. He was close to his parents and so only went off the rails a few times where he fought taking meds. It was a hard road for his parents taking care of him with the hallucinations and all.
Oh lord. Schizophrenia is bad isn’t it. Can it ever be brought under control? Does anyone know? Or am I just watching too many police dramas?
I agree ^ – She’s the right age for Schizophrenia onset, especially if she’s had an upswing in drug usage, that can really trigger a hidden mental health issue. Hope she gets the help she so obviously needs.
@bluhare….yes, there are treatments for schizophrenia ranging from Clozaril to newer atypical antipsychotics such as Seroquel or Risperdal. Unfortunately, the side effects can be very difficult to weather, and often require a lot of trial and error to find the “goldilocks” cocktail. Then there’s treatment adherance, and that’s probably the most difficult, for people to accept they need these medications, and one day without can be a huge setback. The people I work with who have schizophrenia are often highly intelligent, very creative…but their world is not what I, or others see or experience. Consider the origin of the word…it literally means “split brain”. The are people who are able to function “normally” but it’s very difficult. Of all the disorders I’ve worked with, schizophrenia is one of the most puzzling, frustrating and scary disorders one could have. And it doesn’t always look how tv shows portray it.
Schizophrenia is one of the worst. There are treatments and some of them can be successful, but there’s no cure, so it’s basically medication for the rest of one’s life, and constant medication re-evaluation. It’s so sad. I have nothing but sympathy for schizophrenic people – they are often trapped by their own minds in a world that can be terrifying for them.
You can prescribe them something that can help, but their world so many times twists the assistance into something they deem harmful and thus they do not adhere to their medication, which brings out the full blown symptoms again.
Weed induced schizophrenia is my opinion.
I can relate to the medication thing. I hated thinking that I should take medication. It was like if I take it then it turns me into someone else, and what’s wrong with ME? Hard to explain, but it’s a bit different than treating an infection.
Anyhoodle (love that word), it dawned on me one day that perhaps the true me can’t come out because my brain malfunctions sometimes. So I take antidepressants and I have an appt right now to discuss mood stabilizers as what I’ve taken so far makes my hair fall out. And it’s getting really thin. And that, my friends, will not stand. Going bald doesn’t do much for a depressive personality either.
Clearly you have never directly dealt with a mentally ill person. Attitudes like this are precisely why the mentally ill cannot get the help they desperately need. The discrimination they experience is appalling.
@Kitty – It’s already been said by others, but I’ll say this. Do you know Amanda Bynes? I seriously doubt it. You read *stories* online, from all different sources, about her, who she is, what she’s done, & make a judgment about something incredibly serious.
I can’t say for sure what’s going on with her life, but I *can* say that *if* it’s being caused by a real mental illness, ignorant persecution from some moron is the last thing she needs.
It’s 1 of those cases that makes me glad nothing any of us says will have any actual effect on her life.
You’re an idiot kitty. Just plain stupid. Usually I would say that everyone is entitled to their own opinion but your opinion is just down right dispicable. You should pull your head out of your ass ASAP.
@Jano1981 – I imagine that’s going to be easier said than done. Maybe 1 of us can get hold of Kany- I mean, Yeezus’ number, I’m sure he would have some good advice….
I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a ‘service’ (manned by retired paramedics) just for politicians & celebrities) that came to ‘aid’ in such occasions…
( Sorry, totally random…xD My dad’s a retired paramedic. I can just see it all in my head.)
As a mentally ill person Kitty, I’m going to cut you some slack. I might have written the same thing six years ago before I was diagnosed as Bipolar, understood my disease, and spent significant time with other members of the tribe.
I suggest you go to any support group for the mentally ill – you will probably hear of behavior much worse than what Amanda is doing. Mental illness is a disease as real as cancer or MS. It has nothing to do with narcissism.
That being said, I think we are seeing the onset of Schizophrenia here. I hope she gets the help she needs. 🙁
From one tribe member to another: Great post.
When you refer to “Sociopathic behavior” you are referring to Antisocial Personality Disorder. This is a mental illness and can be found in the DSM-IV-TR. Dissocial Personality Disorder is what you would find in the ICD-10 if you’re not in the US. Strange how people are loathe to classify someone who meets the criteria for APD as having a mental illness, but are ok with other disorders. You might not like it, but that doesn’t make anyone less ill.
Damn.
Some mentally ill people struggle bravely against their illness and you can feel their pain. And some are just a pain in the ass. But how you feel about them doesn’t change the fact that they are sick and it is beyond their control. Bynes displayed years and years of “normal” behaviour before spinning out of control as she is now. To me, that says mental illness, not “a**hole”.
I watched a person unravel. He is a wonderful person, someone I love very much and he just disintegrated under the weight of his mental illness. It was not his choice. It was one of the most wrenching and difficult experiences of my life and not fun for him either. It’s disgusting of you to devalue people because they are mentally ill. Your ugly comment reflects an ignorance and lack of compassion that you should be ashamed of.
She is obviously in need of mental health services, and I’m glad this will allow her to be evaluated and potentially placed in treatment. It’s been clear for months now that something was seriously wrong, and it’s been really gross to watch everyone laughing at someone who is clearly displaying signs of a serious mental illness.
I agree with every word. Bravo to you for speaking the truth Esti!!! Amazing.
She has mental issues. She’s high functioning but definitely is unwell. Her actions speak for themselves.
And yet parents will see this, Justin Bieber, Lohan, Britney, etc. and still push their kids into show business.
Her career as a child/tween had nothing to do with it. Our neighbor growing up had a gorgeous son, popular, and around 19 or 20 he began exhibiting strange syptoms. He was eventually diagnosed schizophrenic. It was so sad, and he was never normal again. He worked some and always had to have help and lived at home at lot and his mom took care of him and gave him his meds.
I’m not saying that it caused her mental issues but it did allow them to continue unchecked for much longer than if she had grown up out of the spotlight.
@Neelyo – Not to say she wasn’t (as I obviously have no idea) But A lot of mental illnesses commonly don’t appear/surface (or show any symptoms) until someone is in their mid-20’s or so.
So throughout her childhood, she may not have been suffering the symptoms of the illness at all.
I disagree if she was not famous she would be homeless or in jail.She would be like the thousands of mentally ill on skid row.My cousin has been bipolar for years doing
similar stuff. Police take him
to jail never to hospital for 5150.
When I read about the poor dog my heart ached. TMZ has not reported on it’s whereabouts yet.
There is footage of her in a liquor store trying to wash the gasoline off the dog in the back. So she was trying to take care of it, but I fear that the dog will become collateral damage if she can continue in this way.
I hope the dog is safe and that they will find a good home for it. I know it’s harsh, but when you can’t take good care of yourself, you can’t take responsibility for another life either.
Her parents have claimed the dog and are caring for it.
LOOK at her. Do you really think this is all just for attention? Don’t you think a starlet faking being crazy would go for a more glamorous angle than this? She looks Bipolar as hell to me. It’s not that rare!
This woman is very ill and I hope she gets good help and lots of support.
The parents refuse to pay for cleaning up the fire and say Amanda should do it.
1. There isn’t much to clean – it’s a stain on a driveway
2. How do they expect her to pay bills? Just because she goes to Bloomingdales with a charge card and no pants on it doesn’t mean she can arrange driveway cleaning.
Not sure what’s up with the parents.
I thought that whole situation was weird, but then I read the comments on TMZ.
Someone there is claiming to be the granddaughter of the lady, and saying the whole story is bogus. The woman apparently never asked for Bynes (or her parents) to pay. She did refuse the neighbours offer, but only because one of her family was already going to clean it up.
Obviously it could be a random liar/troll, but it seems pretty believable. To believe TMZ’s version you have to accept that the lady and Bynes parents are all being somewhat douche-like. It just doesn’t ring true. I’m more inclined to believe TMZ is just making stuff up.
Agreed… I know you can only put so much stock in what you read anywhere, but previously, it sounded like her family was very concerned, trying very hard to get hold of her, so they could help her.
If that’s actually true, then it wouldn’t jive with the idea that they’d act like that…
Um, why are her parents responsible? She is a grown woman who made a choice. Her parents paying it is complete enabling behavior and is not helpful to Amanda at all.
That neighbor is trying to milk this: a neighbor offered to clean up the mess, but she refused and now seems to think that parents are responsible for mid 20-somethings.
If she is mentally ill, than no, she is not legally a responsible adult.
I don’t think the story is true. I saw the lady interviewed and she was a very sweet old lady. She seemed really scared by the whole situation. Poor thing.
I think it is sad and for whatever reason u really enjoyed watching Amanda’s movies. My favorite is the one with Colin Firth. Just forgot the name and I know people hated it but I loved it and they had great father/daughter chemistry. I blame her parents for getting her involved in Hollywood at such a young age. Wonder if they sponged off if her? It seems the only successful Hollywood kids are the ones where their parents didn’t try to push them and make a living off of their kid.
@TG. The name was “What a girl wants”.
I hope she gets well.
So the Fanning girls parents are evil? Also you dont watch tv shows,movies or plays with kids in them? Why do you watch children being abused? If being a child actor is so horrible than you should
boycott programs featuring them.
Her parents are white collar professionals who didn’t need her money and by all accounts she was the one who wanted the career.
My local news reported this differently. An eyewitness who lives in the neighborhood said he was driving down the street and saw Amanda lying in the driveway stomach up and her pant leg on fire. She was carrying a small red gas can. She was setting HERSELF on fire. That’s why they put her on the 5150 hold.
I wonder if authorities have contacted her parents. Yes, legally she is an adult, but perhaps the parents can handle this like Britanny’s did. I have heard that Amanda made some seriously horrible comments about her parent (not sure what-just that she had), and perhaps they don’t want to step in. I also wonder who is going to pay for the damage to the resident’s driveway? Does Amanda have any money left?
I think her parents have tried (it’s been among the reasons why Amanda was said to have moved to NYC) but until now were blocked by the law. I’m sure no matter how much money she’s burned through, I’m sure she can afford the $300 to get someone with a power washer to clean up the driveway.
I read that she was in her parents’ neighborhood but in a stranger’s driveway. I think she was trying to get their attention, whether she was trying to set herself on fire or just create a scene. I wonder if she was confused and thought it was their home or if this home was visible from their home.
It is ironic that she had pants on for the driveway fire but went to Bloomingdales earlier that day wearing just a tshirt. Maybe she was there to buy the pants that caught fire,
Thank goodness she is somewhere safe, at least for tonight. As many said already, there is often little that can be done when a mentally ill person is an adult and resistant to treatment, and it is agony for the family.
I wish all states would put laws in place to make it easier to help mentally ill persons who need it. But mostly we just walk by these people as they cower on our city streets, we prefer to think that they “want” to live like bums on the street. The recourses for the mentally ill in this country are disgraceful, more needs to be done.
What a sociopathic, egocentric drama queen.
I’m pissed about “whatever” and I’m going to burn us all…..
Enough of this child.
Something is seriously wrong with you and your capacity for empathy.
@JL sounds likes a sociopath IMO
Sociopathy is often evidenced by an inability to feel empathy or compassion for others. Seems like you have a touch of sociopathy as well. Pot, meet kettle.
I wrote it above but sociopathology is used to describe the symptomatology of Antisocial Personality Disorder. A real mental illness. So, if someone is dismissing someone as sociopathic, they’re dismissing mental illness just because it’s easier to dislike. Like you said, being unable to feel empathy or consider others in a meaningful way sounds like a pretty horrible thing to me. Not something to mock and equate with simply acting stupid or reckless.
My apologies drdoolittling, I think I should have replied a little further up…I was just happy someone actually bothered to put a real definition down!
Whoa.
Dang! I really hope she receives sufficient medical care. Obviously she needs help.
She was in her parent’s neighborhood and tried to set herself on fire? Seems to me like a huge cry for help. I hope that she will finally get it.
this poor girl…
I’m of the camp that believes to many people are over diagnosed/ over medicated… I’ve had the opportunity to spend significant amounts of time both personally and professionally with those who genuinely seemed to display behaviors needing treatment as well as those who were receiving treatment that only enabled their negative behaviors, behaviors that didn’t require medication or hospitalization and could have simply utilized behavior modification techniques…
AB seems to me to fall into the category may that require medication/ hospitalization..I feel very bad for her and concerned for her well being.. I’m not buying that this is an act at ALL
Where is her family? Does she not have anyone that cares about her? This may finally get her the help she needs. Never believed this was some artsy display and she was just fooling everyone into believing she’s unhinged. Girl is a mess, and needs help and they need to find out what may be in her past to have set this off. She had seemed so promising at one time. What happened to her?
It’s called mental illness. She is an adult. You can’t force someone to get help once they are an adult until they pose a danger to themselves or others. Her parents moved from I think Texas to California to try to help her afer her resistance for some time, and she moved away from them to NY immediately. They were trying not to alienate her so they could help her. It wasn’t until she did something like this that could push for a pscyh eval.
One of the more frustrating components of trying to deal with an adult loved one who is mentally ill- usually the family can get no info unless the patient agrees- and being mentally ill, typically they refuse. I had a friend whose step-son was taken to the ER- this is the usual scenario- and eventually, they were contacted by ER. However, by time they got to ER, he had been transported to state MH hospital, which would neither confirm nor deny he was there. Many of the privacy laws dealing with MH need to be revisited, esp in light of continued budget cuts. If the state agency can’t provide services, it should be easier for loved ones to get info so they can be in a more informed position.
In the meantime, i would strongly encourage everyone, young or old, ill or healthy, to appoint medical powers of attorney. The forms are usually free and available on each state’s website for download. Where I practice you don’t need a lawyer or even a notary to complete it, just two non family witnesses. An MPOA allows someone else to make medical decisions for you and access your medical info, but only in the event that you’re incapacitated or deemed unable to give consent.
Did she do this in California because she knows they’ll go easy on her? With the exception of if they actually do give her parents conservatorship, in which case she’ll never get out of it and they’ll get all the money – a la Britney’s dad getting what, $300k a month to “look after” her?
I believe there are pretty strict laws surrounding conservatorships for this very reason (someone feel free to correct me if I am wrong). Brittany’s father gave up his livelihood to act as Brit’s conservator, so it’s only fair that he be paid. And seeing as how much Brit is worth, and how well she is doing, I think he seems to be doing a very good job for what he is being paid.
If Amanda had no one looking out for her affairs, her money would be gone in a heartbeat. She has no ability to wisely invest it, and no ability to make good decisions on what to spend money on (i.e. drugs). She can’t even take care of herself.
Must have been a bad pot batch she stole from the dealer before she took flight from NYC
The weird thing is that there may be a link with the use of pot in childhood and the onset of schizophrenia. It’s not clear if the use hastens the onset of a disease that will eventually manifest or if, in certain individuals, the disease is brought on where it might not have otherwise occurred.
Or the cart might be getting put before the horse – children who regularly use pot may simply be self-medicating for early preclinical symptoms of a disease that was there all along and would have emerged anyway. That is, they feel so much better that they keep using pot. Children generally assume everybody feels the same way, so they may not think to tell anybody about how they feel.
@jwoolman, Oh, no doubt. I wasn’t trying to scare anyone and I know it’s a chicken or egg scenario. I was just relaying info from studies, which seem to be inconclusive anyway.
@TMZ signs of schizophrenia
That was my guess all along…
What a horror show. It’s disgusted me to watch people egg her on and turn this whole thing into an entertainment spectacle.
All things considered, this could have been much worse. I’m glad she is finally on a psychiatric hold and her parents have the courts (hopefully) behind them now, that the dog is ok and that she didn’t burn down someone’s house. All in all, she could have killed herself, that dog and the people in that house. You don’t freaking mess around with gasoline and fire.
I hope the parents find a better home for that dog. If Amanda comes to live with them eventually, she should not be allowed around animals.
X
I could care less about Amanda Bynes but I do hope that they don’t give her poor dog back and that she gets investigated/prosecuted for animal cruelty. That poor little dog doesn’t deserve this.
The fact that is took her lighting some random woman’s driveway on fire as well as soaking her dog in gasoline and burning it, to put her in a psychiatric facility is really frightening. It was apparent a while back that she was seriously mentally ill. She should have been hospitalized months ago.
She was never a danger to herself or others until this incident. I, for one, am glad it takes that for a 5150. I can only imagine a neighbor calling the cops and me being held on a 5150 because I was singing to my guinea pigs while dressing them up in outfits.
One person’s crazy is another person’s harmless recreation.
I don’t really buy this whole deal. Something doesn’t ring true with her behavior.
According to TMZ she’s going to be held for more than the 72 hours because she is showing signs of mental illness, and her parents are seeking conservatorship. Hope she gets the help she needs. :/
they will probably go for the 5250 14 day hold and fast track the probable cause hearing.
…possible self-immolation — WTF?!?!!
Good LORD. If this is her faking it, then she needs to be put behind bars for harming that puppy!! But it sounds like she is genuinely mentally disturbed because doing this as part of an act…she has to know this will have consequences other than press.
This is depressing. I hope she gets well and better with some vigorous mental care with her family there. She needs to be sent to a farm and heal and *out of* the media spotlight.
Is there anyone out there that honestly doesn’t believe this girl needs serious help?
Wow. At first I thought that all of Amanda’s antics over the past year (except for the DUI) were all just attention-seeking. I thought she was deliberately trying to make herself the next Lindsay Lohan/Britney Spears in order to rebuild her career. But after this, maybe I was wrong. Maybe she does have some sort of severe mental problem.
Doesn’t take talent anymore to be famous. You get the same if not more press if your a f**k up. Saddness.
What is with all the people who are finding it so hard to believe Amanda Bynes is mentally ill? Do they think you have to be drooling and yowling at the moon and running around naked with a shotgun to be mentally ill or something? Some people here are desperately in need of education about mental illness.
I blame it on that Blind Item. I think that planted the seed for all of this skepticism. Then people started looking at her antics differently and “seeing” calculation.
Personally, my money is on schizophrenia.
Or maybe they just aren’t very nice or bright people. How someone could take Blind Item more seriously than the obvious deterioration of a real live human being boggles the mind.
But they do. Those Blind Items get cited pretty frequently. You really need to take them with a grain of salt but some people consider them very very seriously!
Yeah, there are still people on a lot of sites who seem to think she’s trolling us. Frankly though, even if she came out and said “I was just messing with your (ugly) heads” it wouldn’t change a thing. Wearing silly wigs, throwing bongs out of windows, tweeting that people are ugly – all that was relatively harmless and could be taken as a bad joke, but there are some things you just don’t do if you’re stable, and I think “wandering round with petrol and setting fires in other people’s property” has to be on that list.
I blame it on the blind item PLUS a misunderstanding of mental illness. A lot of people were saying her tweets were too lucid and grammatical to be the product of mental illness. Just because they weren’t full-on word-salad (like Jared Loughner’s ramblings) people seemed to think they were completely rational.
But it’s not so black and white. You can have good days and bad days, and even in the midst of a florid delusion not all schizophrenics are going to manifest obvious word-salad style ramblings.
I hope she stays there and they can treat her mental illness, she needs help and i hope she gets it, its sooo sad, she was soo talented
As a long-time psych nurse, this puts to rest the question – for me – as to whether she’s doing this for attention. Attempting to set yourself on fire is not the sort of thing someone typically does without some pretty serious pathology behind it. I hope this gives her parents the opening they need to help her.
who the *@$#%& gave her the dog???? THAT person should be locked up too!
So when she gets released is she going to “sue” the Cali officers too?
It’s kind of a weird thought she could act her way out of all these evaluations. She is an actress…..
This poor young woman is so, so ill. I’ve never been a fan (at all), but I very much hope that her doctors and family can find a treatment program that works for her. Agree with everyone above who ways this sounds like schizophrenia, maybe mixed with some complicating factors (bipolar disorder with psychotic features, for instance). She is not in control of her own actions at this point, and I feel very sorry for the people who love her right now.
Amanda Bynes locked up? Thank the lord!
Wow. Some of the comments in this thread are horrifying. I would implore anyone who thinks this is an act, or those who are stating that they have no sympathy for her, to read up on mental illness and schizophrenia in particular. It is NOT a choice and most people in control of their own actions don’t set themselves on fire in a stranger’s driveway. The arguments that she’s “faking it” or “doing it for attention” are getting flimsier by the day.
Also, it’s important to note that mental illness doesn’t look the same every day. Like any other disease process, there are good days and bad days. Don’t mistake the good days as a clear indication that nothing is wrong with her.
I was held for 72 hrs after a suicide attempt in my teens.. The place was more terrifying than helpful, but it absolutely was a wake up call to get more help.. Hope that can happen for her
I’m familiar with her acting work (the two Nickelodeon variety series when she was quite young, a non-Nick sitcom, some movies). She really was a good comic actress even as a child. Nickelodeon shifted her to the host of a second skit show because she did so well in the previous incarnation, and she did very well with the new show also.
I never have thought this recent behavior was an act. She wasn’t like this at all before. Something happened by her early twenties, which is a common age for certain mental illnesses to emerge or get out of control. This recent behavior should convince everyone else- nobody in their right mind (literally) does this kind of stuff for “attention” to “resurrect a career”. I think she lost interest in a career back in the beginning of all this. That twitter announcement of “retirement” was the first red flag I noticed- it was not normal for her. Not that she needs to work (her parents must have kept their hands off her money), but she always seemed to enjoy it. I could see shifting to other activities, but she became aimless and unfocused. Just not in character for her. Drug use can be a form of self-medication for certain disorders, although usually not a very successful approach ultimately.
Before someone mentions Lindsay Lohan – Lindsay wasn’t really in the same league talent-wise. Amanda had real skills and a shot at getting an acting career as an adult in roles that required skill. Lindsay had a distinctive look and voice, which, if she hadn’t decided to dedicate herself to booze and other drugs in her teens, could have gotten her roles at least in her twenties but nothing requiring a lot of acting skill. It’s always obvious that we’re watching Lindsay trying to play a role, the character never takes over. Lindsay has usually been asked to play herself, more or less, and flopped whenever required to stretch beyond that. Amanda could play a far greater range.
I remember reading somewhere that women don’t typically try to commit suicide in shall we say, messy ways like immolation. Its more typical for them to use poison, overdose, etc. Not to say that this is the case 100% of the time. This makes me think there is a very serious mental illness as suicide by immolation is particularly dramatic and uncommon, especially for a celeb so focused on physical appearance most of the time, i.e. when she calls everyone ugly compared to her why would she go then and mutilate her body? Hmmmm very big red flag of mental illness.
SHAME ON YOU ALL making fun of Amanda Bynes. It’s clear she’s a very sick young lady. Schizophrenia does set in at her age. It’s often genetic. Do a search of Bynes’ images over the last year. Both her gait and posture have changed as well as her appearance. She’s become disheveled looking and her personality has changed. She doesn’t seem to have the big PR machine to cover for her for mistreatment of others/animals/self related to a mental disorder.
Take a look at yourselves and how you treat others. Many of you call her a fake or an ASSHOLE. The way we look at others is a mirror for how we really see ourselves.
This girl seems very alone and her lashing out also may be symptomatic of needing help. I’m hoping she gets it. I’m rooting for her.
This Amanda Bynes incident happened right down the street from me. I think the dog was found right away because it was mentioned the next morning that the dog had been taken to a hospital/shelter by police. Her parents are finally seeking conservatorship. She may have Schizophrenia, but it could also be a brain tumor + drugs.
Is there a correlation between a certain type of mental illness and wearing wigs? It seems odd to me that both her and Britney rocked wigs during crazy times. Dissociative disorder of some sort?