Drew Barrymore Details Being Admitted to ‘Psychiatric Ward’ for 18 Month When She Was 13

Drew Barrymore is opening up about being placed in a “full psychiatric ward” by her mother for more than a year when she was just 13. During a guest appearance on SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show on Monday, the actress detailed her tumultuous teen years while speaking out in support of Britney Spears amid the ongoing discussion on how Hollywood treated and exploited starlets.

Detailing her years as a child actor, Barrymore said she was with “too many resources” and “was going to clubs and not going to school and stealing my mom’s car,” according to Entertainment Tonight. The actress, who broke into the industry at the age of 5, said she “was out of control,” adding that “sometimes it was as humorous as that and sometimes I was just so angry that I would go off and then I’d get thrown in the thing.” The “thing” she was referring to was a “full psychiatric ward,” where she spent 18 months after her mother, Jaid Barrymore, had her placed when she was just 13.

“I was in a place for a year and a half called Van Nuys Psychiatric and you couldn’t mess around in there. If you did, you’d get thrown either in the padded room or get put in stretcher restraints and tied up,” she said, explaining that while there, she “would channel my inner riot girl. It was like half a kids facility and half an old person’s place, so as I was riling up these young girls the woman in the walker would go by. It was hilarious.”

The Charlie’s Angels star said she was so angry she “couldn’t see straight” and admitted that she struggled to understand why she was placed in the psych ward. She said she believes her mother institutionalized her because “she created a monster” and didn’t know what to do with her. She said this was her mother’s “last gasp, and I really was out of control, and I forgive her for making this choice. She probably felt she had nowhere to turn.” Barrymore, who later cut her mother out of her life, has since reconciled with her.

“We texted this morning. I’m really glad there is healing there. We have spent our entire lives trying to figure things out,” she said. “I feel goodness toward my mom. I feel empathy and understanding. She’s met my kids, but there’s real boundaries and distance and a lot of respect.”

Barrymore’s candid discussion about her youth was sparked from a discussion about Spears, whose name has been pushed back into the spotlight following the debut of The New York Times Presents Framing Britney Spears, which examined the way in which she was treated and exploited. Barrymore said she has “so much empathy toward so many people,” admitting that “it’s hard to grow up in front of people.”