Actress Mischa Barton was locked up in a psychiatric ward earlier this summer.  So, why was she locked up in the crazy house?

Some people speculated it was because she was crazy, or she was on drugs. 

In an interview with Time Out New York, Barton explains why she had to stay at the psych ward.  Excerpts from the interview are posted below.

INTERVIEWR: A lot of people are watching you now, speculating you were in rehab back in July.

BARTON: Here’s what happened: Before the show started, I was traveling abroad for contract stuff and I went through a terrible surgery—a wisdom tooth surgery, all four removed. It was a nightmare. I’ve never had surgery before—it all went wrong and I had to have a second surgery and it almost delayed shooting 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.

INTERVIEWR: Is this when you were checked into Cedars?
BARTON: Yeah, 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. The show, travel and then this fairly routine surgery that went wrong—it’s still just healing. But I had to get through it without proper painkillers because I couldn’t take those during work. So it’s been a nightmare.

INTERVIEWR: How did you end up in a psychiatric hospital?
BARTON: I was down in the dumps about everything there for a while. 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.

INTERVIEWR:Was it an official nervous breakdown? Drugs?
BARTON: I don’t know. I don’t know. I had a friend who had a quasi–nervous breakdown, but I’m not sure it’s the same thing. I’m not sure I’m capable of a full-on nervous breakdown, but it was pretty bad. It didn’t last that long. It was more about the pain. I have a newfound respect for people who have chronic pain. I started getting migraines.