Mischa's Meltdown Went From Dental to Mental

Troubled actress tells mag oral surgery led to her breakdown

Updated 9:00 AM PDT, Fri, Aug 28, 2009

TWITTER FACEBOOK

Actress Mischa Barton says she's fine now, but back in July, dental surgery sent her on a downward spiral.
Getty Images

Mischa Barton's recent problems were dental before they went mental, the actress says in a new interview.

Barton, who plays a model on "The Beautiful Life," was checked into a psychiatric ward be her mom in July, told TimeOut that her problems began after surgery to remove wisdom teeth.

"It was a nightmare," the 23-year-old stunner told TimeOut. "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. So with the travel, and surgery and prep for the show—it was hell."

Barton said she turned to painkillers to get through the ordeal, but with all the pressure from her hit show and traveling obligations, she was soon overwhelmed.

"I was down in the dumps about everything there for a while. 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.

She stopped short of calling her situation a nervous breakdown and would not say whether she had a drug problem. She confirmed it was her mom that checked her in to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, but only elaborated off-record, for the TimeOut scribe.

  "I’ll tell you that story but not the whole world," Barton said. "The funny thing is, if all this happened in New York, no one would care."
 

Get more: TimeOut

First Published: Aug 28, 2009 8:44 AM PDT

TWITTER FACEBOOK

  • 50% sad 1
  • 50% bored 1
  • 0% furious 0
  • 0% thrilled 0
  • 0% intrigued 0
  • 0% laughing 0
processing
      No comments have been posted yet.

      You have 2000 characters left

      processing
      So My City

      You are posting in (change)

      550/550 characters

      (jpg, pngs, or gifs allowed)

      (jpg, pngs, or gifs allowed)
      *Tip: You can also post moments via email or Twitter.

      processing

      View Your Moment in

      Posted by | 1 second ago

      Don't Miss

      popcornbiz

      Mar 19, 2010

      "Repo Men" Funny and Good Looking, If a Bit Dumb

      “Repo Men” should have been a great piece of sci-fi commentary -- Instead, it’s just an amusing and stylish distraction.

      Read It

      celebrity

      Mar 19, 2010

      Demi Moore Uses Twitter to Help Prevent Suicide, Again

      Actresses Demi Moore and "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" star Nia Vardalos may have helped to save a Florida teen's life with just a few Tweets.

      Read It

      television

      Mar 19, 2010

      Ellen DeGeneres Presents $30K to Miss. Lesbian in Prom Flap

      A lesbian high school student embroiled in a legal flap over her school's prom policy has received a $30,000 scholarship on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."

      Read It
      Loading...
      Birthdate:
      You must be at least 13 to sign up.
      Gender:
      invalid

      By clicking the button below, I accept the terms of use and privacy policy

      Already Signed Up? Login Below.

      processing

      Here's what we're posting:

      *Only used for verification. We do not store your password.
      processing