Kim Richards, ‘Real Housewives’ Star, Faces 5150 Hold After Intoxication Arrest, Shoplifting ‘Crisis’ [Video]

Kim Richards has become known as one of the most troubled reality TV stars as Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills followers watched Kim battle problems with addiction. But now Richards, after relapses, rehab visits, and arrests for shoplifting, is in a crisis, according to a psychiatrist who emphasized Kim’s need for help, reported MSN.

“Kim is clearly in crisis because we find that she’s drinking again, she’s getting arrested, she’s been found to be shoplifting,” said psychotherapist Dr. Robi Ludwig. “These are all indications that Kim is not doing well and that she’s deteriorating or decompensating.”

Reflecting on how Richards has struggled with addiction by going to rehab repeated times before relapsing, Ludwig revealed that it’s a common cycle among those who are trying to stay sober without success.

“Anyone who watches the Beverly Hills Housewives knows that Kim is really the person who is very much in denial about her alcoholism. And she hasn’t quite found a strategy to stay sober. And so what we know as psychotherapists and people in the mental health field is that she’s probably trying to self-medicate depression or anxiety, and she’s going about it in a way that isn’t healthy and is self-destructive.”

What to do now that Richards has been arrested? Kim’s family is weighing the pros and cons of a 5150 hold, revealed an insider. That would mean Richards would be hospitalized without her consent, and that Kim would have to remain there regardless of whether she wanted to leave on her own.

“A 5150 is basically when someone is hospitalized on an involuntary basis, which simply means that they did not sign themselves into the hospital and they cannot sign themselves out. They’re basically there involuntarily and why this can help certain people is because it keeps them in the hospital longer and helps them to get treated longer,” clarified Dr. Ludwig.

“It’s usually a person who is in a sicker state that ends up in a hospital involuntarily because other people have decided that they can’t make decisions on their own behalf and they usually are considered a danger to themselves or others at least for a period of time.”

Although that would force Kim into treatment, Dr. Ludwig cautioned that a 5150 hold means challenges for the family members who choose that option.

“Very often the person who is involuntarily committed to a hospital, they get very angry with their family members,” added Ludwig. “They almost feel like they’re being put in prison, that their will and their freedom is being robbed from them. So it can create a lot of chaos and sometimes family members aren’t always in agreement about whether the person needs to be in the hospital involuntarily or not. But, it basically creates some bad feelings for a period of time until the person gets well.”

Richards’ latest public scandal occurred after the former Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills star allegedly stole more than 100 items worth about $612 from a California Target store, reported Us Weekly.

Kim was jailed for one night after being charged for petty theft, then released on bail.

The shoplifting arrest follows charges of resisting arrest, battery, and public intoxication when Richards became drunk and belligerent with police at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Kim then went to rehab at various intervals.

As for fans who hoped to see Richards’ story played out on RHOBH, at this point she is not scheduled to return to the popular reality TV show.

Exacerbating Kim’s problems, Richards became homeless, as the Inquisitr reported.

Kim lost her house amid the wreckage of the Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills (RHOBH) star’s ongoing problems. Recently, Kim went to Mexico in an attempt to celebrate her daughter’s wedding. But that, too, became a public scandal after she became high and attacked the bridegroom’s family. Thus far, Richards has put her furniture and other items in boxes to store them until she can find a new residence.

[Image via Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills/Bravo]