Inside Amanda Bynes' Recovery: She's "Working on Herself" After Graduating FIDM

The actress had recently sought treatment again following several past rehab stints.

By Corinne Heller Apr 20, 2019 3:05 PMTags
Amanda BynesBACKGRID

Now a college graduate, Amanda Bynes is "working on herself" amid her recovery and a new rehab stint.

The 33-year-old Hairspray and Easy A actress had checked into a facility in January after a "relapse" and had sought treatment from mental health professionals and addiction counselors for drug addiction and mental health issues, multiple outlets reported in March.

"Amanda is doing great, working on herself, and taking some well-deserved time off to focus on her wellbeing after graduating FIDM [Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising] in December," Bynes' family's attorney, Tamar Arminak, said in a statement to E! News.

"She's spending time reading and exercising, sketching for her new line and mostly making sure this time around she puts her needs first," the lawyer added.

 

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Inside Amanda Bynes' Private World

The actress had enrolled at FIDM, a for-profit California college, in early 2014, weeks after she left a treatment facility and months after she was placed on an involuntary 5150 psychiatric hold in her hometown of Thousand Oaks following legal and personal turmoil and a slew of disturbing tweets, which had prompted a judge to place her under the custody of her parents.

In fall 2014, Bynes was arrested on suspicion of DUI, a case that was later dismissed, and later again sought help at a treatment facility and remained there for a month. She tweeted that she had been diagnosed as bipolar and manic depressive.

She returned to FIDM a year later. A source close to Bynes told E! News in March 2018 that the actress was on track to graduate the following fall. Bynes told Paper magazine in a November 2018 interview that she would receive her Associate's of Art degree in Merchandise Product Development that month before embarking on a Bachelor's degree in January—the month she entered treatment again. She told the outlet that she had been sober for almost four years, with the help of her parents.

"My advice to anyone who is struggling with substance abuse would be to be really careful because drugs can really take a hold of your life," she told Paper. "Everybody is different, obviously, but for me, the mixture of marijuana and whatever other drugs and sometimes drinking really messed up my brain. It really made me a completely different person. I actually am a nice person. I would never feel, say or do any of the things that I did and said to the people I hurt on Twitter."

Meanwhile, amid her recovery and her continuing education, the actress appears to be pursuing other interests outside of the acting world; In October, she filed to trademark the phrase "Vintage by Amanda Bynes" for use on clothes, cosmetics, jewelry, furniture, and household containers.