In the wake of the shocking Nickelodeon documentary Quiet on the Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, former All That actress Amanda Bynes is opening up about her mental health and how it has impacted her physically.
On Thursday, the former child star posted a message to her Instagram stories, telling fans that a recent bout with depression has caused her to gain weight.
“I’ve gained over 20 lbs. in the past few months from being depressed,” she wrote. “I’m doing a lot better now and have learned to do opposite action when I don’t feel like working out or eating clean.”
Bynes went on to say that she currently weighs "162 lbs right now," adding that she wants "to get back to 110 lbs."
Bynes' post comes after the release of the four-part docuseries Quiet on the Set, which details the alleged mistreatment of child actors by television producer Dan Schneider, who created a number of popular Nickelodeon television shows in the '90s and early aughts.
The series includes allegations of mistreatment, sexual assault, and the hyper-sexualization of child actors on shows like All That, The Amanda Show, iCarly and Drake & Josh, and includes interviews with former cast members who also discussed Bynes tenure at the network.
Bynes has not publicly responded to the allegations or the docuseries. A surprise, fifth episode of the series will launch on April 7 on Investigation Discovery (ID) and then Max, Variety reports, and will include new interviews and a discussion on "where the industry can go from here.”
In a 2018 interview with Paper magazine, Bynes revealed that at the height of her career she was dealing with severe body image issues that led to a debilitating drug addiction.
“When (She’s the Man) came out and I saw it, I went into a deep depression for 4-6 months because I didn’t like how I looked when I was a boy,” she told the publication at the time. "It just really put me into a funk."
As a result, the actress said she started experimenting with drugs like ecstasy and cocaine, and "definitely abused Adderall" after "reading an article in a magazine that (called Adderall) 'the new skinny pill.'"
"They were talking about how women were taking it to stay thin," she said. "I was like: ‘Well, I have to get my hands on that.’"
In 2012, Bynes quit acting and walked away from the entertainment industry altogether. In the years that followed, she was arrested several times for drug possession, driving under the influence, reckless driving, and more.
Bynes has also been hospitalized several times for psychiatric reasons, including in 2014 when her parents petitioned to place their daughter in a conservatorship after she was put on an involuntary psychiatric hold. At the time, Bynes' parents told the court that their daughter was "obsessed with the idea that she and others are 'ugly.'"
"She talks incessantly about cosmetic surgeries that she wants to have completed," Bynes' parents claimed in court documents, as reported by NBC at the time. "We are concerned that the surgeries she wants to have are dangerous and detrimental to her health.”
The court ultimately granted Bynes' parents conservatorship over their daughter, which remained for eight years before ending in 2022.
