Amanda Bynes: Schizoaffective Disorders

During these past two years, nearly all of the world has been exposed to the downward spiral of Amanda Bynes. The former child star has fallen, like many others, from the squeaky clean persona which we saw from her work on The Amanda Show. Many child stars have been fascinating cases in the psychology world whether it be caused by the stress of living in the spotlight or parental problems. Bynes’ case is a tragic one, especially for those of us who grew up with her show, so being able to understand from a clinical view point what is going on with her is important to me. The odd behavior of Amanda Bynes began back in the summer of 2010 after appearing in racy photos for a popular magazine, then announcing that she was retiring from acting.

From the social media claims to her behavior in public, it is plain to see that there is some metal ailment that is troubling the actress. In Amanda Bynes’ case, I believe that she is experiencing symptoms of both Bipolar Disorder as well as Schizophrenia. With symptoms of both of these mental illnesses present, I believe that Bynes would fall under the category of having a Schizoaffective Disorder. The first symptom of a Schizoaffective Disorder is delusions. According to our text, a delusion is known as a misrepresentation of reality and can be seen in Amanda when accused an officer of sexually assaulting her as well as when she declared that she was becoming a rapper and was allergic to both marijuana and alcohol. The next symptom that could be present would be the disordered thinking and that she displayed on social media with her tweets, as well as the instances where she was caught in public talking to herself, locking herself in bathrooms and dressing rooms, as well as wearing inappropriate clothing, or sometimes no clothing at all in public places. The next symptom that may have been present is the depressed mood. Although it wasn’t overly apparent in her behavior, there were indicators of depression in the angry outbursts that she was having in public. She may have also have had the sense of worthlessness which caused her to lash out on celebrities for her own self-affirmation as well as having trouble with making decisions. Again, we see this in her choice to retire from acting, then coming back two years later to take up the profession again. There is also the symptom of manic behavior which can be seen in her risky life choices which got her in trouble with the law numerous times. There was also the symptom of hallucinations that goes along with the Schizoaffective Disorder, but there was no instance that described Amanda Bynes