Twitter Though sometimes it seems like forever ago, Amanda Bynes isn't that many years removed from TV stardom, major movie premieres and the whole young-Hollywood scene.
But more recently there was that incredibly scary time—for herself, for those close to her and for the millions more who had just loved her onscreen for years—as she battled mental illness, ran into a series of legal issues and otherwise lost control of her life. A talented star gone down an extremely dark path, seemingly out of nowhere.
Yet here she is, celebrating her 30th birthday today, steadily piecing her life back together after a tumultuous period in which she became a walking question mark, as the world—so shocked by what had all of a sudden become of Amanda Bynes—waited to see what she'd do, say or tweet next.
"She is doing great," her family's attorney, Tamar Arminak, tells E! News. "She is happy and healthy, and excited about the future."
Bynes, who enrolled at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in spring 2014, just completed the winter quarter of her second year at the Los Angeles campus. "She seems to still be doing great and seems really focused on school," a source tells us.
And that's all welcome to hear, especially since the memory of the crisis that consumed Bynes not that long ago is still so haunting.
Her transformation from the bubbly star of All That, What a Girl Wants, What I Like About You and more "oh yeah, I forgot about that one—I love that one!" favorites to wildly unpredictable troubled starlet was shocking; but moreover it proved too disturbing to chalk up to just another actress having issues.
Eventually, as she simultaneously courted and slammed the attention her odd behavior attracted, it became apparent that she really needed help.
In fact, the scrutiny of Bynes' every move ultimately served as an eye-opening lesson about the fine line between watching a celebrity-driven spectacle unfold and bearing witness to a truly sad state of affairs.
Her off-kilter tweets about sex (one in particular starring Drake comes to mind), other people's ugliness and laments about her own body were both engrossing (she attracted a slew of famous Twitter followers) and a heartbreaking example of sadness on parade. Then there was the desire to look more like Blac Chyna and the onslaught of smoldering, oft-shirtless selfies.
And all this was after a spate of traffic violations caused her to lose her driver's license in 2012, in hindsight a sign of a bigger problem to come. She announced that she had given up acting to pursue a career in fashion and she relocated to New York, where life only got weirder.
She was arrested for allegedly chucking a bong out of her apartment window in May 2013 and then moved back to L.A.; two months later she was hospitalized after setting a fire in the front yard of a neighbor's house in her parents' Thousand Oaks, Calif., neighborhood.
Though it was sad to hear of Bynes on a 5150 psychiatric hold, actually being forced to get help marked the turning point back to stability.
In the end, medical care and family support were the main factors that got her back on track, but perhaps knowing that everybody was watching gave Bynes an outlet for feelings that she otherwise would have had to suffer alone. It actually took some strength to put herself out there and then deal with the haters who piled on alongside those who only wanted her to get better.
Bynes even shared her condition with the world, later revealing she'd been diagnosed as bipolar and manic depressive and was on medication. Perhaps she did so unintentionally, but she had laid bare the symptoms and the incomprehensibly complicated journey of mental illness. She started a conversation and put another relatable face on an issue that affects so many.
Bynes spent nearly six months in residential treatment, she got her driver's license back in April 2014, and she started having a private life again.
She made good on her dream of pursuing fashion, starting classes at FIDM. She didn't let a September 2014 DUI arrest derail her progress. Her social media posts are just…regular, now. A Christmas greeting showed her looking happy and healthy.
Bynes even hit her first red carpet event in years last August, all smiles with Michael Costello, who designed her dress, at the SOAR Los Angeles Gala.
Fast-forward to today, and it's not just that she's "bouncing back" or "looking great" or "doing well."
Something extraordinarily scary happened to Amanda Bynes, something that, unless she chooses to share her story, we'll never really know all about. And even then, we'll never truly understand how it felt for her.
We'll also never know just how close this story came to going the other way.
What we do know is that Amanda Bynes is only 30, and she again has the chance to live the life she wants. For her birthday, we're wishing that she stays happy, healthy and excited about the future—because the people who never stopped rooting for her success will always think she deserves all that, and more.
—Reporting by Baker Machado and Mike Vulpo