Amanda Bynes has checked back into a mental health facility after a reported “relapse.” The actress had just returned to the public eye after retreating for nearly five years.
Bynes is reportedly getting help and treatment for drug addiction and mental health issues.
Sources say she has been struggling since the end of last year, when she stepped back into the spotlight and starting pursuing acting work again.
Bynes, who has opened up about her mental struggles, has checked into a few drug rehabs in recent years. In November, she opened up about her drug use and how it led to a spiral. She began using drugs at 16, when she smoked marijuana for the first time.
Her drug use progressed to molly and ecstasy, she said. Bynes also admitted to trying cocaine three times, but said she “never got high from” it.
The actress’s role in the 2006 film She’s the Man sent her into a severe spiral of depression.
Bynes says she abused Adderall, and her use of the drug led to her dropping out of the film Hall Pass. Her real breaking point came after she saw herself in the film Easy A. She was reportedly so alarmed by her appearance that she convinced herself to quit acting on the spot.
Bynes went on to get two hit and run charges in 2012 and a DUI arrest, but all three charges were dropped. She then dropped out of the spotlight, and her mother Lynn was named conservator over her “person” in 2014.
Around the time of her arrests, Bynes’s behavior had publicly spiraled out of control. She was reportedly kicked of a spin class because she attempted to workout in lingerie, and was allegedly seen walking around a tanning salon naked.
Bynes had been posting strange tweets, which went viral and further demonstrated her spiraling behavior. In 2013, just before her parents took over as conservators, she was seen wearing a number of outlandish wigs in public.
According to TMZ, being back in the spotlight and auditioning for roles put too much pressure on her.
Before her return to the spotlight, Bynes had been studying at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in L.A. She remains under a conservatorship by her parents.
The actress reportedly still plans to finish school. Sources say she is spending a lot of time with her life coach and is sticking to her program.
