In 2013-14, Amanda Bynes had a psychological breakdown. I don’t know how to describe it really, but a lot of it was public. She was abusing drugs, likely because of her mental health issues. She ended up in a conservatorship, with her parents and grandparents acting as conservators. For years she was pretty quiet – she was in recovery, she was getting the medication she needed, she went back to school and even graduated from a fashion academy. In 2018, she spoke about being sober and clean for four years. About thirteen months ago, she was able to legally terminate her conservatorship after nine years. Many of us had high hopes that her recovery would stick. This week, Amanda Bynes was placed on a 5150 psychiatric hold.
Amanda Bynes has been placed on a psychiatric hold after she was found roaming the streets naked and alone … TMZ has learned.
An eyewitness tells us … Bynes was seen walking near downtown Los Angeles early Sunday morning without any clothes. We’re told Bynes waved a car down, telling the driver she was coming down from a psychotic episode. Amanda herself then called 911.
Our law enforcement sources say Bynes was taken to a nearby police station, where a mental health team determined she needed to be placed on a 5150 psych hold.
Fortunately, our sources say it doesn’t appear Bynes was hurt at all during the ordeal, though things could’ve been much worse given the area where she was found.
A source close to Amanda tells us she’s currently hospitalized, and will likely continue to receive care for several days. Typically, a psychiatric hold only lasts 72 hours, but it can be extended.
It was almost one year to the day when Amanda’s 9-year conservatorship was officially terminated. Amanda’s mother was her conservator starting back in 2013 when it was clear she was having issues with her mental health — she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. After a series of bizarre incidents — including one where she set her neighbor’s driveway on fire, almost engulfing her dog in flames — she was sent to a psychiatric ward for treatment.
There are several pieces of good news here. One, Bynes recognized that she was coming down from a psychotic break and she asked for help and called 911 herself. Two, she’s not starting from scratch – she’s spent the last nine years in recovery, she’s built a life for herself, she understands the path she needs to take now. There is some reporting that Bynes went off her meds and that’s what led to this. Could be.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Instagram.
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- ** RIGHTS: ONLY UNITED STATES, BRAZIL, CANADA ** – West Hollywood, CA – A heavier and healthy looking Amanda Bynes is all smiles as she shows off her new hair and sharp nails as she is seen leaving Glam hair salon in West Hollywood this afternoon with a friend. Pictured: Amanda Bynes BACKGRID USA 28 JULY 2016 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Los Angeles, CA – Amanda Bynes picks up Starbucks before her 1hr indoor cycling class with a friend. Amanda looks casual in an all black athleisure ensemble, complete with a Life of Pablo shirt, as she makes her way down the street with a friend. Pictured: Amanda Bynes BACKGRID USA 8 DECEMBER 2018 BYLINE MUST READ: Clint Brewer / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Los Angeles, CA – Amanda Bynes and Paul Michael are seen for the first time since Amanda accused him of doing drugs and vandalizing his mother’s home. Pictured: Amanda Bynes, Paul Michael BACKGRID USA 28 APRIL 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
I realize I’m up here on a gossip blog but I sort of hate for her that this is being publicized. 🙁 I really hope she is okay or on the path to okay again.
I think we all feel the same. However this blog is likely to be more sympathetic and help people understand the background to why this happened than others.
Some of the reports I read yesterday were not kind.
I feel so sad for her because it really seemed like she had made progress and it was so nice to see how supportive her parents were and how a conservatorship can be helpful for people if done and monitored the right way.
I hope she recovers and gets back on the path that she was on.
I understand how you feel that this news could have been kept quiet, but I am glad it is out in the open. I have two loved ones who suffer from different mental illnesses and they both have gone off the rails and required hospitalizations.
This story tells that, yes, breaks can happen with those with mental illness, but the help is there and one can get back on track.
I am glad that Amanda realized what was happening to her and called 911 to get the help she needs. One of my loved ones has had police intervention for his behavior. Thankfully, these officers have been trained to de escalate and work with the mentally ill.
I have a 30-something daughter who became schizophrenic in the last few years and it is the heartbreak of my life. She’s not diagnosed because …. so far ….she does not have the insight to realize she is sick (a hallmark of schizophrenia) and will not seek help.
So, I am very interested in the subject and have followed Amanda’s struggles. I feel a little optimistic to read that she has at least recovered enough to realize that she has an illness and needed medication. It’s a wide-spread problem today and needs much MORE attention.
There are so many young people in poor mental health right now, so maybe this will let them know that they are not alone and that it is awesome if they can ask for help. Mental health issues can be devastating but it is so much easier when others around you know a little and can be supportive. I know that having a teen with mental health issues is such a tighttope – you want to protect their privacy but also don’t want them to feel ashamed and isolated and want others to be there if necessary.
This beautiful soul. I feel for her. But I have full faith in her also. She was able to understand what had happened and asked for help.
The amount of courage and awareness that takes, means she’s on the right track.
Just pains me to see people struggle.
@CLARABELLE
I know this is very personal for you, but if you feel like it, can you share what signs your daughter is exhibiting and how she acts?
I’m not familiar with schizophrenia so it would be so helpful to hear people’s experiences.
But absolutely no pressure! Only if you feel like sharing.
I really hope she gets the correct help that she seems so desperately to need. It’s truly sad. My hurt goes out to her.
People being open about their mental health struggles does help others but it should never be expected or required from any struggler regardless of their level of fame or past history.
I hope very much that she receives the support, love and care that everyone struggling deserves. As well as the privacy going forward.
This article was written very kindly and very well. I wish that “getting” help wasn’t such a pipe dream / jumping through a myriad of hoops in the USA. Plus extremely cost prohibitive.
We have so far to go to become a society that takes care of each other.
As someone who loved AB as an actor and followed her career, thought she was incredibly talented I watched with empathy as she quietly worked in her healing. Reading this last night was very upsetting but as others have said it is helpful.
Reading this today just helped me.
I’ve worked in mental health my whole career, 20+ years and its only in the last year and half I have come to see my own MH struggles for what they are. I myself am currently coming down from a very scary dark period, as I sit enjoying my children I started thinking to myself, I’m feeling really good right now, I’m taking meds, I could probably cancel my counseling appointments I have set, I don’t feel like I need it anymore.
I work in MH. I l see that kind of justification all the time in others, and didn’t see it in my own self.
I might not be actively suicidal in the moment but the trauma is real and needs to be dealt with or the cycle continues. Reading this in this moment helped me.
Talking about it helps to destigmatize it, and reminds people like me that it’s ok to continue help. I’m ok
I was reading about this on a subreddit yesterday, and I felt so bad. Apparently everyone else did to as they locked the thread. My heart breathed a sigh of relief.
Super sad. I have a soft spot for her. I’m glad she has the resources and family support to deal with this. Most of the people in the area in which she was found do not yet are just as ill and in need of intervention and care.
Same. Wishing her all the best.
I do think it’s a hopeful sign she recognized what’s going on, and I hope she knows it took real strength to seek the help she needs. I’m rooting for her!
I have a soft spot for her too, and I think it is a very positive sign that she is the one who called 911 and asked for help. There’s no chance she would have even recognized she was in trouble a few years ago.
Very glad to hear she is safe. Wishing all good things for her.
Wishing all the best for her.
❤️. Get well Amanda. We are pulling for you.
That she had the self-awareness to call for help bodes well. It’s not even necessarily that she went off meds. We’re still in the campfire stage of understanding brain disorders, sadly, and it continues to cause a lot of suffering. Wishing Amanda and her family all good things.
I can admit, I know what it feels like when you “switch” from one state to another. Depending on multiple circumstances (how well Im doing physically, and how much stress /issues Im under) I will have a relatively clockwork transition from cheerful to raging- every 24 hours to be exact.
I know how hard it is to see this happening to yourself but to not be able to stop it.
It doesnt make you a bad or dumb or weak person, and you certainly dont mean badly when it happens– it just… happens- try as you might. Think of it a bit like people with Tourettes where the brain just want to do something and will do it no matter what.
I find it hard to believe that any medication can really fully control that.
So things like this are bound to happen.
It doesnt mean she fell off a wagon or anything. It just means this sh!t is really hard to control at all to begin with.
Thank you for saying this. I think people have this idea that someone goes on medication and then they are magically “cured” of mental illness. And it doesn’t work that way. Someone can be on meds and still have episodes, they can be on meds and still have bad days. Mental illness is not a linear line.
Good point. Struggling with one’s mental health isn’t any more of a moral failing on the sufferer’s part than struggling with one’s physical health. Glad she was able to recognize that she needed help and was able to get it before anything more dangerous happened.
Thank you for sharing this.
Somehow even just acknowledging our lack of understanding to basic things like anxiety disorder etc helps. Because it doesn’t put the weight of “fixing” it on the sufferer. If we knew more, then sufferers would know more.
So much of the human mind and its workings is still such a mystery and being reminded of that is somehow empowering. It really does give weight to the “I’m doing the best I can” and alleviate some of the internalized guilt for not having all the answers.
Thank you. I needed this more than you know.
From my limited understanding it is not unusual for someone with her type of condition to get to a point of feeling so good on their medication that they stop it, because they feel “fine” now. But she will likely always need medication. Hopefully this is just another step on the path to stability and wellness.
It’s not only that they feel “fine” now, the medications also come with side effects that can be life altering in some cases. I don’t know her regimen and am just speaking from experience as a nurse and a mom of a kiddo on some psych medications. Sometimes to manage the side effects you need to go on more medications to the point where you are swallowing a small bucket of pills every day. And, this is also important, the medications don’t always stay effective. I’ve been through this with my kid, diligently taking the medications but after a while they just aren’t as effective anymore. I commend her for coming so far in her treatment that she can advocate for herself, that is a huge step and I wish her all the privacy and best in the world.
((Also this does not necessarily mean that the conservatorship she was previously under is automatically reinstated btw))
Oh yes, hopefully a new conservatorship won’t be necessary at all. The fact that she was able to recognize she was in distress is so important and she should be if at all possible allowed to self-advocate.
I have been watching court cases on Juveniles, it is so sad, so many of the children have mental illness, it is tough being a parent.
Bipolar is very challenging and even if you find a good regime of meds and therapies your body might change and those things don’t work as well as they once did so you have to find a new mix. That’s why people will go into the hospital willingly to try and get on track with a new medication or mix of medications under supervision so that they are safe.
I hope that she is in a good facility with great doctors who can help her find the right treatment for her.
This ^. AND, it’s important to remember that bipolar disorder is progressive, and, like a lot of other conditions, is subject to hormone changes and aging. It’s been 9 years since her initial diagnosis so what may have been working previously may not be anymore, and that’s OK.
Here’s to hoping for a recovery for Amanda. The fact that she herself is the one who noticed she needed help bodes well. I hope she knows we are rooting for her.
Praying for her!! That’s all.
God how scary for her. All the best for her recovery, hope she has some good people around her.
Sending 💕 loving support and air hugs 🤗 your way Amanda 💗
Mental health is a struggle. I’m so glad she is safe and knew what to do. Being safe Is most important. I hope she gets the help she needs. People who can access good psychiatric hospitals are truly lucky. Best wishes, Amanda. I still think of you in that movie with Colin firth as your dad.
I hope she’ll be OK. The fact that she was aware of her mental state and personally asked for help is a promising sign.
I hate for Amanda that she’ll have to start over after possibly going off her meds, but it’s sadly not surprising. Many people who live with mental or physical illnesses that require lifelong maintenance and medication will know that you do get burnt out. Sometimes, especially with antipsychotics, it’s because you don’t like the way the meds make you feel. When it’s a physical condition, you sometimes get frustrated with the fact that your life seems to revolve around it — you can’t eat or drink what you want, or you have to choose vacation spots based on whether or not medical care will be accessible in an emergency — and you stop your meds as a way of seemingly taking back some control (this has happened to me). There’s a common misconception that these people are just being willfully stupid, or petulant, or attention-seeking, but in truth, it’s rather similar to self-harm. So if you know someone who is struggling like this with their meds, please act accordingly. Be compassionate. Be supportive. Be patient.
I follow someone on Instagram who does 90s/00s content and she went to 90s Con this weekend. There was a reunion with everyone from All That, and she said Amanda had been unable to attend. I can see why now.
I am rooting for her. Mental illness is so challenging sometimes! I hope she’s able to get help and the right mix of medication and therapy to feel well again.
One of my family members has schizophrenia and other serious mental illnesses. He could be taking his medication faithfully, and he’ll just… have a psychotic episode and require hospitalization. Medications stop working sometimes, other times they need to be adjusted. Other times he’ll feel like God told him he doesn’t need to take medication anymore. It must be so confusing to not be able to trust your brain sometimes. And so hard to have the side effects of antipsychotic drugs, just to be able to be stable.
Amanda, I am so sorry your private battles are being publicised (I realise the irony of me writing this on a celeb goss site) my prayer for you is that you are safe, you are being properly cared for and kindly supported. I wish you inner peace, nourishment for your soul, your heart and your body and mental and physical well-being
Perfectly said, Hannah- we are behind you and your healing, Amanda!
I wrote a longer post before but I think it didn’t save.
I am a psychiatrist and I would like to point out that “I went off my meds ‘cause….. “ has very different connotations than “I’ve been taking my meds but they don’t seem to work anymore and…..”
I have absolutely seen it happen at work that when the manufacturer changes, side effects change or efficacy for primary symptom changes. The pharmacies almost never alert people when manufacturers change.
Also, I have also seen it happen where a prescribing doctor is not closely minding what another doctor is prescribing, or the patient doesn’t mention it, but guess what there’s a bad drug-drug interaction.
Destabilizing is not the same as being irresponsible with meds or other treatments.
I hope Amanda gets treated with the dignity we all deserve.
Also, my god. Run a drug drug interaction checker every time anything gets added, even if it’s over the counter. Drugs.com has a free one. Or ask the pharmacist. Also remember that herbal supplements have nearly zero regulatory oversight and it could be what’s on the label or it could be a surprise, which may also have an interaction with your meds.
Thank you, Brenda. Also, be aware that generic drugs can legally have up to a 12% variation from the original medication. For some people and some meds, 12% is a lot & can change the effectiveness.
Thanks for this. You can also be in a better life situation, so lowering doses may be appropriate, until you realize, nope that’s too low.
With the whole Ted Lasso at the White House thing, we have to realize that we aren’t supporting better mental health until we realize that relapses and breaks are part of mental illnesses. People who have them need to be supported.
My sister is a doctor who works in drug development and it was such a surprise to learn how medication you might think as a patient is the same is not always the same at all. As someone said below, generics aren’t necessarily exactly the same as brand name medications, etc. etc. I take five prescriptions and have taken daily meds my entire life but didn’t know what a difference the tiniest variations can make.
Brenda, I appreciate the time you took to pass on this valuable information, thank you.
I lost a friend to a bipolar psychotic break a few years back. Even well managed with meds and self awareness, these things can still happen. I grew up idolizing Amanda on her show and have such a soft spot for her. I really hope she continue to take steps forward in her journey and these episodes don’t take her from us too soon
I am so sorry for her and so thrilled for her she called for help. I’m bipolar and have had to reach out for help myself after a manic episode when I was in college. Looking back I still don’t even know how I had the wherewithal to do it. I did not abuse drugs, and I was on a medication regimen that I took faithfully. But it turned out to not be the right fit for me. I had been diagnoses less than a year earlier.
She has access to the best hospitals, thankfully. I was on my parents insurance and still luckier than most, but please understand the hold does not fix things. They pump you full of meds to calm you down and keep you still and sleepy for 72 hours. You aren’t working with your own doctor, it’s the doctor at the hospital seeing tons of other patients. They basically render you immobile so you aren’t a danger to yourself or others until next steps can be determined.
It isn’t a reset. It’s something you do out of desperation and you can come out feeling worse than before in some ways.
It is encouraging that she sought help. She has several years of experience in managing her symptoms to fall back on, as well as to know when she can’t manage alone.
I’ve been on a 72 hour hold–it buys a few days of safety as well as respite for loved ones, but that’s it. Many people are shocked that you’re usually just turned loose afterwards with little or no aftercare plan. Hopefully Amanda has an existing treatment team she can engage with once she’s released.
When I had severe PPD and had my husband drive me to the ER, I was kept in a literal holding room where there weren’t enough doctors or nursing staff to get patients into rooms quickly enough. People I talked to had been in there for days. It was a large, awful room with only hard plastic rocking chairs or the floor to sleep on. No beds. My family had to fight and fight and fight over the phone and I had to constantly bother my nurse to get me into a different psychiatric hospital stat. In the end, I was only in there for 26 hours and was moved to another, better hospital but that was the definition of a hold, for sure. I know others weren’t so lucky.
I was caught off guard when this made me cry for her. I have relatives with mental illnesses and I remember all the times they weren’t taken seriously or they were spoken of harshly. I really hope she gets the help she needs.
I feel so badly for Amanda. She just lived everybody’s nightmare–literally–finding yourself alone naked in the streets. I hope she’s getting the care she needs.
Sending Amanda thoughts of love and healing. I hope her recovery to her normal is quick.
Poor Amanda. Bipolar can be such a horrible illness.
I’m glad that she was not hurt and was able to get help. I have a sister struggling with the same thing so I know it is very hard to control. Wishing her the best.
I feel so very sorry for her. I hope she can get the help she needs without being exploited by anybody in her circle (really don’t know her story). She must be suffering so much. Poor woman.
I feel so sad for her. Glad she was self aware enough to know she had a psychotic break and sought treatment for herself. I hope she doesn’t see this as too much of a setback because when dealing with complex mental health issues, it must feel like two steps forward, one step back. I don’t think she’ll ever come back to making movies. The guy she was seeing the last few years seemed kind of sketch to me. I’m hoping she has a supportive environment around her.
My heart really goes out to her. Glad she’s getting the treatment she needs. Hopefully this will just be a bump in the road for her.
She is super talented and funny and I’ve always had a soft spot for her. I’m so sorry this happened, but at the same time, I’m grateful there are no photos of it, grateful the person she stopped helped her instead of exploiting the situation, and I’m glad she was safe. This could have been so much worse. Hang in there Amanda.
This shouldn’t be news. I hope she doesn’t end up like Anne Heche who was also diagnosed with BP.
I have an aunt who goes off of her meds every winter and has to stay in the hospital. I feel so badly for her. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like my meds are working but I won’t go off of them because I’m scared I’ll end up back in the hospital too.
Good for Amanda for recognizing she needed help and called for it. I wish the best for her. Mental illness suuuuuucks.
Wishing her a healthy, lasting recovery. It’s good she recognized what was happening to her and was able to get herself some help. Glad she wasn’t hurt or worse.
I’m hoping for all the best for her.