14 DAY TRIAL // Mischa Barton was one of the hottest girls in showbiz at the time she appeared on the hit TV series “The O.C.” and some time after that as well. By 2009, her career had imploded and she was admitted to the psych ward against her will, in what she describes today as a “full-on breakdown.”
Like many other girls and boys who discover fame too soon and are not prepared for everything that comes with it, Mischa was a hot commodity when she hadn’t yet turned 17.
She tells People magazine that she discovered a world where no one would say no to her but, at the same time, in which she wasn’t allowed to say it either.
Barton was fired from “The O.C.” but she continued to revolve in the same circles for a few more years. Her partying got out of control because she was surrounded by all kinds of enablers.
“We thought, ‘Work hard, play hard’,” she recalls. Problems began in 2007, when she was busted for DUI and driving without a license, which was a wakeup call for her parents, who finally realized how much in trouble she was and how badly she needed help.
She resisted all their attempts for 2 more years, after which she was put on a 5150 hold for a psychiatric evaluation when, during an intervention, she threatened to kill herself.
“It was a full-on breakdown. I was under enormous pressure,” she says, describing the feeling she had at that time as that of being on a fast train you wish to get off but can’t.
Eventually, Mischa got help for her problem but that didn’t mean that her life changed for the better overnight because, now, she had to deal with bullying from the media for her weight.
“When you're 16, you're not what you are at 25. I was really young and just had not filled out at all. Not everybody stays the same body type. It was always, ‘She's too skinny, she must be sick.’ Then it was, ‘She's too big.’ I was never the right weight,” she says.
Today, Mischa is healthy, happy, and confident again. She has a home in London and one in LA, a boutique in London and a promising movie career once more. More importantly, she has her determination back.
“I’ve learned a lot. I’m stronger now,” she says.
Her full interview with People will be out at newsstands this Friday.