Amanda Bynes was spotted doing a public outing over the weekend, in what was her first public sighting since stepping into an inpatient treatment facility in July.
The 37-year-old former actress was photographed in Orange County, California, after making a trip to a Ralph’s grocery store to get supplies on Saturday. She had also been reportedly spotted in public the day before.
Sources told TMZ on Wednesday that Bynes has ended her initial status in the psychiatric facility, which prevented her from making excursions.
Now she has been included in the facility’s minimal supervisory group, which means she can leave the premises on her own at certain times of the day.
Bynes had previously been placed in an outpatient treatment program, but left that program and enrolled in her current, more intensive inpatient program late last month.
Out on the town: Amanda Bynes was spotted over the weekend after taking a short trip unsupervised from her in-patient psychiatric treatment facility in Orange County, California. This was her first sighting since she self-examined late last month
At the time, sources told TMZ that Bynes wanted to avoid the loneliness she felt living alone in an apartment and that she also wished for a more dedicated team of mental health professionals that her current program offers.
Amanda was dressed casually for her weekend getaway: a white shirt, a thin gray zip-up hoodie, and a black windbreaker.
She paired the tops with skinny dark blue jeans and had dyed her black hair tied back in a topknot.
The outlet’s sources noted that Bynes was making considerable progress — enough to go out alone and unsupervised — but she still wants to stay put and has no plan yet for when she will end treatment.
In the meantime, she will continue to meet with mental health professionals to support her recovery.
The sources added that the ‘She’s The Man’ star is comfortable with her current life situation and that she reportedly appreciates having her therapists and healthcare professionals available and being able to be around other patients, who she can socialize with, which she apparently didn’t get much of before she entered treatment.
Bynes stopped by a tobacconist around 6:30 p.m. on Friday, according to people who saw her on her tour of the city, though it’s unclear what she might have bought.
She was seen again on Saturday walking to a Ralph’s near the facility. The ‘All That’ star was seen in photos leaving the store with a paper bag full of groceries.
Stocking up: Bynes was spotted visiting a smoke shop in the OC around 6:30pm on Friday and then photographed on Saturday (pictured) buying a bag of groceries from Ralph
Improvement: Bynes graduated to be able to leave the inpatient facility unsupervised at certain times. She came forward last month after feeling her outpatient facility was not enough
In a crisis: In March, Bynes was rushed to a psychiatric ward after being walked naked on the streets of downtown LA; seen in 2013
Amanda has left her loved ones troubled lately after seemingly failing to regain a more stable mental state after previous issues led to her repeatedly seeking psychiatric facilities.
She was admitted to 5150 Psychiatric Hospital back in June, just two months after she was released from a three-week stay in a mental health facility after being found naked on the streets of downtown Los Angeles in March.
An investigation into her mental health had found she posed “a danger to herself and others,” members of the Los Angeles Police Department told TMZ at the time.
Surprisingly, they added that it was Bynes himself who initially called the police to report that a woman was allegedly in distress.
Subsequently, her psychiatric stay was extended by at least a week as doctors worked to stabilize her medication.
After she was arrested by police for walking the streets naked, Bynes’ former fiancé Paul Michael claimed to Page Six that she was not taking her prescribed medication before the mental health crisis.
Prior to March 2022, Amanda was under guardianship and it was her mother Lynn who made sure she was taking her medication as directed before it was discontinued.
Michael subsequently claimed he and his ex broke up shortly before they were hospitalized in March.
However, Bynes’ parents had banned Michael from contacting or visiting their daughter while she was in hospital, sources exclusively told .
Decisive factors? Her former fiancé Paul Michael (left) claimed they broke up before her breakup, and he also said she hadn’t taken her prescribed medication before
Ongoing problems: During her detention in March, a source said that her parents did not want to resume her guardianship, believing it was an isolated case, but she continued to have mental health problems; seen in LA in 2015
“They don’t want their ex-fiancé anywhere near them and he’s been told not to have any contact with her,” a source explained.
“He doesn’t seem to have her best interests at heart and her family doesn’t have anything good to say about him.”
Despite her ongoing mental health struggles, the insider said Bynes’ parents didn’t consider restoring her guardianship at the time, believing her hospitalization was an isolated case.
However, she has continued to require extensive psychiatric treatment in the months since.