HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — One month after she was placed under an involuntary psychiatric hold, Mischa Barton is speaking out about the events that led to her hospitalization.
In an interview to promote her new CW television series “The Beautiful Life,” Barton reveals that her fall began when a routine wisdom tooth surgery went bad.
“It was a nightmare,” the 23-year-old actress tells Time Out New York. “I’ve never had surgery before—it all went wrong and I had to have a second surgery and it almost delayed shooting because it was a nightmare to me, because I couldn’t deal with the thought of not getting there on time.”
Barton explains that she had been traveling abroad doing contract work when she decided to have the surgery on the eve of starting her new CW show.
“With the travel, and surgery and prep for the show—it was hell,” she explains. “I went through a tough spot where everything compounded on me, and it was like a perfect storm, like everything was happening to me at once.”
“It’s still just healing,” she continues. “But I had to get through it without proper painkillers because I couldn’t take those during work. So it’s been a nightmare.”
When asked to explain how she ended up in a psychiatric hospital, Barton confesses that she hit a low point.
“I was down in the dumps about everything there for a while,” she reveals. “Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom about things and have to get the most stressed out just to feel better again. I got completely stressed out and couldn’t handle everything, and now I feel really in control.”
When pressed further if she endured a nervous breakdown or if her hospital stay was triggered by using drugs, Barton offers, “I don’t know.”
“I had a friend who had a quasi–nervous breakdown, but I’m not sure it’s the same thing,” she says. “I’m not sure I’m capable of a full-on nervous breakdown, but it was pretty bad.”
Barton says that her hospital stay was short and that it probably would have gone unnoticed outside of L.A.
“The funny thing is, if all this happened in New York, no one would care,” she says. “New York lets you be who you are, and people aren’t as judgmental. I’m so glad to be back here.”
Also see: Mischa Barton Gallery
