Barton: Tooth Surgery Led to Breakdown

Mischa Barton is speaking out for the first time about last month’s “involuntary psychiatric hold,” and the troubled actress pins much of the blame on wisdom tooth surgery. “It was a nightmare," she tells Time Out New York. "I’ve never had surgery before—it all went wrong and I had to have a second surgery,” she says. “I went through a tough spot where everything compounded on me, and it was like a perfect storm.”

Her mother checked her into the psychiatric hospital, but Barton remains vague about the diagnosis. "I was down in the dumps about everything there for a while. Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom just to feel better again.” Was it a nervous breakdown or drugs? “I don’t know,” she says. “I’m not sure I’m capable of a full-on nervous breakdown.” (More Mischa Barton stories.)