More than a month after she was placed under psychiatric hold, Mischa Barton denies she had a mental breakdown and instead claims her July stay at L.A.'s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center was a result of a "terrible" wisdom tooth surgery.
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"It was a nightmare," the actress, 23, told Time Out New York. "I've never had surgery before — it all went wrong and I had to have a second surgery and it almost delayed shooting [on her new CW show The Beautiful Life] because it was a nightmare to me, because I couldn't deal with the thought of not getting there on time. So with the travel and surgery and prep for the show, it was hell."
The star, who added that she is still healing, said that the hardest part was not being able to take "proper painkillers because I couldn't take those during work."
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Still, Barton — who was removed from her West Hollywood home July 15 by police — said her hold was caused by a combination of factors.
"I went through a tough spot where everything compounded on me, and it was like a perfect storm, like everything was happening to me at once," she told Time Out New York. "I was down in the dumps about everything there for a while."
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When asked if it was an official nervous breakdown (a source told Us Barton called the police herself after having a "freak out"), she said "I'm not sure I'm capable of a full-on" episode.
"But it was pretty bad," she admitted. "It didn't last that long… Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom about things and have to get the most stressed out just to feel better again. I got completely stressed out and couldn't handle everything, and now I feel really in control."
