Amanda Bynes reportedly checked into a new mental healthy facility earlier this month in an effort to maintain her hard-won comfort and clarity. The former actress was receiving outpatient care in Los Angeles, California up until the beginning of July, when sources close to her say she sought out this inpatient program in Orange County instead. They told TMZ that Bynes felt she needed more help than outpatient care could provide.
Bynes was living alone in an apartment in L.A. while leaning heavily on her outpatient treatment program earlier this summer. The 37-year-old was scheduled to make her first public appearance in years at ’90s Con in March, but days after missing that appointment she requested help for what turned out to be a psychotic episode. She has been back to a more intensive mental health treatment plan ever since, and it seems that this month she decided to step it up.
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Sources close to Bynes said that her favorite feature of the inpatient treatment she is now receiving is the social aspect. They said that Bynes is not comfortable living alone right now and she takes a great deal of solace in being surrounded by doctors, therapists and other patients. She is participating in daily therapy sessions and skill-development activities.
The insiders could not predict how long Bynes will remain in this facility but seemed to suggest that it was up to her. Bynes may be able to decide when she feels ready to live outside the facility again – perhaps giving her time to arrange a new residential situation where she will not be on her own. Bynes’ parents reportedly support her decision to seek help.
Bynes announced her hiatus from acting in 2010 and began to have legal trouble in 2012 – mostly related to substance abuse at first. In July 2013 she was placed on her first mental-health evaluation hold, and shortly after that her parents filed for a conservatorship. During this time Bynes was known for her intense social media posts, and in hindsight many culture critics have pondered the phenomena of Bynes’ viral posts during what is now plainly understood as a mental health crisis.
In the years that followed, Bynes was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and received treatment while also attaining sobriety from drugs and alcohol. She and her parents mutually agreed to end her conservatorship in March of 2022. Sources close to Bynes said that she knows her parents are still there to lean on if she needs them.
