Jenny Pentland: Roseanne Barr's daughter recollects teen facility years that gave her PTSD
Jenny Pentland, Roseanne Barr's daughter, has opened up about her traumatic experience after spending five years in and out of troubled teen facilities while her mother's fame soared in the 1980s and 1990s. In her new memoir, 'This Will Be Funny Later', Pentland, now 45, opens up about the harrowing experiences she had in those facilities, which left her with PTSD.
Pentland told PEOPLE ahead of the book's release, "I was locked up." After she began "acting out," the author was sent to a series of reform schools, psychiatric facilities, and a wilderness boot camp between the ages of 13 and 18, a reaction she connects in part to her mother's quick rise to popularity. She explained, "I was getting bad grades, and I was mouthy, cutting my arms and smoking cigarettes, just depressed."
RELATED ARTICLES
Roseanne Barr has best wishes for cast after 'Roseanne' spin-off takes off without her
Roseanne Barr says losing 'Roseanne' was like a death to her, reveals plans to leave the country
Barr and Jenny's father, Bill Pentland, placed her in the problematic teen facility after education and behavioral specialists suggested treatment. Jessica Pentland, her elder sister, had previously been sent to a mental facility in Los Angeles after taking their mother's car for a joyride, according to the author. "I think there was a fear of us spiraling out of control," she said.
Pentland revealed that she battled with PTSD after witnessing and suffering emotional and physical abuse at many of the locations she was assigned to — all of which are now closed or under new management, according to Pentland. "The worst abuse I feel I suffered was having my free will removed – the lack of freedom," she stated.
After a difficult childhood, Pentland was able to go on and raise a family of her own. Pentland noted that she gets along well with both of her parents, but she wanted to share her experience to raise awareness about some of the services pushed to parents of problematic teenagers. She remarked, "These places are still out there and I want it to stop, I don't think about what I've lost anymore. I think about what other people are losing right now or what they're going to lose if it doesn't change.”
Her book 'This Will Be Funny Later' is set to release on January 18.