Mischa Barton had a full-on breakdown and ended up in a psychiatric ward, she has revealed. The former star of The OC was a tabloid target when she was propelled to fame in 2003 by the teen series, and ended up partying hard as a result.
“We thought, ‘Work hard, play hard,’” she admits to People.
But when her partying spiralled out of control and her parents attempted an intervention in 2009, she took a sedative and blacked out. She was then placed on involuntary 5150 hold in the psychiatric ward of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre after threatening to commit suicide.
Mischa Barton’s time on The OC was dramatic (The CW)
“It was a full-on breakdown. I was under enormous pressure,” she recalled.
Her weight has always been a massive talking point in the press, and she explains:
“It was always, ‘She’s too skinny, she must be sick. Then it was, ‘She’s too big.’ I was never the right weight.”
And now? “I’ve learned a lot,” she said. “I’m stronger now.”
Mischa is still only 27.
