15 Celebs Who Have Had Serious Breakdowns

It's easy to think that celebrities have the best lives ever. After all, that's what we all see in shiny Instagram selfies, funny TV interviews and, of course, every single time that they're photographed. So what happens when their lives aren't quite so fun and fabulous? What do they do when they realize that just because they're rich and famous and wealthy, it doesn't mean that they're perfect? Mental health is a super serious topic and definitely an important one at that. Thankfully, now that it's 2017, we're talking about things like this more and more and no one has to hide their pain and suffering, especially not celebrities. But there's a difference between living with a mental illness like depression or bipolar disorder and having an actual mental breakdown. Unfortunately, there are a lot of famous figures who have sadly had to deal with this, and sometimes it was pretty disturbing.

Here are 15 celebs who have had mental breakdowns.

15 Britney Spears

Everyone remembers the day that the pop star had a mental breakdown. She was in a parking lot. She was barefoot. And she shaved her head. It was hard to believe that the girl whose songs we had danced along with when we were pre-teens or teenagers was now having such a rough time. We could not reconcile the image that we had of her as America's Sweetheart -- the one who dated Justin Timberlake and was super sweet and charming and innocent -- with the woman that she had seemingly become. She even vandalized a car belonging to a member of the paparazzi which was pretty hard to believe. Thankfully, she went to rehab in 2007 and while we will never forget her breakdown, now she has had a major comeback. She seems to be doing pretty well since now she's a great mom and is resurrecting her career.

14 Mariah Carey

Who could forget when the diva had a major breakdown in 2001? It was one of the first times that we realized that the stars that we put on pedestals could be knocked down. She was not someone that we thought would ever have problems since she seemed to have it all from looks to fame to fortune to success to a beautiful singing voice. But she taught us that we never know what's going on with someone and that we can't even pretend to know. Mariah ended up in the hospital and the party line was that she was dealing with crazy emotions and some real exhaustion. Since then, she has said in interviews that she was having a tough time without good people around her who could really help her. But she has also said that people made too big a deal of what happened to her. So who knows what the real story is. But it definitely seemed like a major breakdown and like it was pretty bad, we can say that.

13 Lark Voorhies

Sadly, news recently broke that the former star of Saved By The Bell now suffers from bipolar disorder and her mom has been speaking out saying that she's basically had a breakdown. Apparently, she isn't functioning well at all and hasn't been for a long time. According to some interviews and stories, she's living at home with her mom and she has not been interested in going to a hospital or seeing a doctor. It's always really sad and difficult when someone is struggling but doesn't want anyone to let them see that there's a better way. So it seems like she has had a bit of a breakdown and that she's still living like that. It's very disturbing to realize this since we grew up watching her as the fun and witty Lisa. We loved her colorful clothes and her sense of humor and she seemed like such a fun girl. It's hard to realize that the woman who played her is now having such a difficult time.

12 Demi Lovato

The actress and signer has since spoken out about her bipolar disorder and struggles with mental health. She's now a huge advocate for these issues and is a very inspiring figure. But just a few years ago, she had a total breakdown and had to seek help for her problems. No one knew that she was suffering so much and it definitely came as a shock to realize that the girl who was singing happy pop songs really wasn't happy at all. In fact, she was the furthest thing from that. She was also depressed and suffering from an eating disorder, so it's safe to say that this was a really tough time in her young life. We're inspired by Demi every day and we love that she is so outspoken about things that are so painful and difficult to talk about. We would live in a much better world if everyone would get help when they are suffering and not be afraid to talk about what they're going through in case it helps others.

11 Mischa Barton

Back in 2009, Mischa Barton was only 23 and she was having a tough time dealing with her time in the spotlight. She tried to end her life and was having such bad anxiety that her family made sure that she got the help that she really needed. Her time in the hospital pretty much saved her since now she seems to be doing okay. She never got as famous as she was when she portrayed Marissa Cooper on the teen soap The O.C. and she never really found much success in any kind of acting situation either. But she hasn't had another breakdown, that's for sure, and she can even talk about her 2009 breakdown with calm and clarity. Now she's 30 years old and seems to be living in the U.K. although supposedly she also lives in NYC and L.A. part of the time. It's unclear what she really does with her time but again, she hasn't had another breakdown, so in terms of her mental health, things seem to have looked up after her infamous rough time.

10 Reese Witherspoon

Oh, Reese. We love you. We really do. We quote Legally Blonde 24/7 and we loved Wild. But we don't love that a few years ago, you totally freaked out on a cop and acted like he should know who you were. You were super unfair and super ridiculous. What, you think that you're so rich and famous that the law doesn't apply to you? That's horrible and we can't support that. We're not sure if you were drunk or what was going on. We can only hope that you never acted that way ever again. We have to say that while this seems to be a totally isolated incident, we do believe that this was a bit of a breakdown. Let's call it a mini-breakdown (if such a thing exists… if not, we're going to make it a thing). It was definitely not her shining moment and it was not something that she should be proud of, that's for sure.

9 Tom Cruise

This actor was probably your mom's fave (and maybe even yours too). You loved him in a lot of action movies that you wouldn't otherwise watch. But then… he had a breakdown. And it wasn't a pretty one (well, not that a breakdown can ever be pretty). Everyone knows the moment that his life and career changed. It was when he jumped up and down on Oprah's couch talking about his feelings for Katie Holmes. Well, we know how well that worked out. Now they're divorced, of course. We couldn't believe this moment and to be totally honest, we're still pretty much in shock and denial. It was such a strange thing to witness. Why would he ever think that this was a good idea? It was like someone took over his mind and body and made him act like an absolute child. We get being in love but this was definitely taking it way too far. It was a really bad idea and it definitely didn't work out in his favor.

8 Michael Jackson

We're huge fans and we loved his "Thriller" video and dance. His music was super epic and he really had a lasting impression. That's what makes realizing that he had such a hard time such a difficult thing. He definitely had a few breakdowns. From changing the very color of his skin to holding a baby out a window, it's safe to say that times were tough and he wasn't himself for much of his life. It's always difficult to see someone that we love and admire and respect suffering from something. It's even harder when things don't work out so well for them and they don't get the happy ending that they deserved. The late singer was addicted to painkillers and that got a lot of media attention since that's supposedly what he died of. Ultimately, we can only hope that others who are struggling get the help that they need.

7 Charlie Sheen

Oh Charlie Sheen. We were shocked a few years ago when he started having freak-outs on a regular basis. It seems like he's had one breakdown after another, all starting from way back in 1998. He actually had a stroke thanks to his drug abuse. Then in 2009, he was involved in a domestic abuse issue with his wife. In 2010, he ruined a hotel room. Around this time, he was really acting out and it was clear to see that he was going through a really rough and disturbing time. He was even basically kicked off his show Two And A Half Men (and his character was even killed off). We haven't heard a whole lot from him since back in 2015 when he said that he was HIV positive. So we're not sure what the status of his mental health is or what's going on in his life. But it's safe to say that his breakdowns have had some lasting and negative implications.

6 Christian Bale

The actor went pretty crazy on a film set a few years ago and ended up being really abusive (at least with his words) toward people who were just innocently trying to do their jobs. It can be hard to have sympathy for someone who acts this way because come on, how hard it is to be a decent human being? Especially if you're getting paid the big bucks to act? It's a pretty charmed life, that's for sure. His breakdown wasn't talked about much beyond this so we're not really sure what happened or what the impetus was behind it. Needless to say, we were pretty disturbed and we hope that it doesn't happen again. But sadly, we've seen this from a lot of celebrities at this point and we're never really sure which path they're going to go down. It seems like there is as much a chance of them going down the rabbit hole and never coming back out as healing themselves and becoming a better person. We always hope for the latter.

5 Lindsay Lohan

It's pretty much impossible to think about celebrity breakdowns and not include Lindsay Lohan. We've been hoping for a real comeback from her so many times, but every time we're totally disappointed. We can't believe how far she has fallen and how many awful things seem to keep happening. She's had alcohol issues, she seems to have had an eating disorder, she's struggled with depression and family issues and even showing up to work on time. Even her attempt at a reality television series with Oprah didn't work out too well. The project was supposed to prove that she was serious about having a real acting career once again but all it did was show that she still had a lot of struggles to work through and that she couldn't even show up for a photo shoot on time. We keep hoping that she will find herself again, but so far, it doesn't seem to be happening.

4 Shia LaBeouf

The actor absolutely melted down back in 2014… in a movie theater of all places. It's not that surprising now that we realize that a lot of former child stars and former Disney stars, in particular, have raged against the machine that is fame and fortune. But at the time, we were pretty shocked since we had never thought of him as someone who could do something like this. It was shocking and scary and all kinds of disturbing to see him losing his mind this much. It became kind of a joke and people talked about it all over social media. But really, it wasn't funny at all and it was actually really horrible to witness. We can only hope that he's gotten some help and figured his problems out and is doing much better now. That's what we really want for him (and anyone else on this list who has had a tough time).

3 Owen Wilson

This sweet and adorable actor makes the top of our list because back in 2007, he shocked the world when he attempted to end his life. He was almost 40 and seemed to have a super successful acting career. After all, he was absolutely hilarious. How could he possibly be depressed? How could anything be wrong? Didn't he live a super-charmed life? Sadly, he was suffering and no one seemed to know, and this incident changed the way that we viewed celebrities forever. Since then, we have been more realistic in terms of how we view the lives of the rich and famous, and now we know that just because someone seems to have a flawless life, it doesn't mean that's actually the case. We felt really bad for Owen and are so happy that he has been doing much better since then. He has said that leaning on a support system was what really helped him, which is good advice for those who are going through something.

2 Kanye West

Back in November of 2016, Kanye West ended up in the hospital thanks to an emotional breakdown. We were shocked, to say the least… and at the same time, we weren't all that surprised. It made sense that he would have a hard time dealing with everything that was happening. How could he possibly handle Kim Kardashian's tragic and scary robbery in Paris? Talk about rough times. He made it to the top of this list since he's such a public figure and this was such a talked about breakdown. We're still not really sure if he's feeling better or what's going to happen next in his life or his career. We have a whole lot of questions and we're not sure if we're ever going to get any answers, because while the star and rapper is really famous, he deserves his privacy at this difficult time in his life. We wish Kanye all the best and we hope that things will work out for the best. We definitely have faith.

1 Amanda Bynes

Sadly, the former child star and funny actress will go down in history as having a really epic mental breakdown. As fans of the star, we find this really unfortunate and we wish that this wasn't the case. But back in 2012, the trouble started. She got a DUI and then she started posting strange selfies and tweets. In May of 2013, she supposedly pitched a bong out the window of her apartment and ended up being arrested. That was when things really and truly went downhill. Things have never been the same for Amanda Bynes, that's for sure, and weird news pops up about her every once in a while. She always claims that she's totally fine and that no one should talk about her. But it's very disturbing and tragic when a star falls from grace and seems to be having such a rough time, so of course we're going to talk about it and wonder what's really going on. We always wish for brighter times and better moments, and when it comes to Amanda Bynes, we can't stop having hope.