Chapin married at age 16 and was divorced at 18. (An article published January 2, 1981, in The Washington Post says that she "separated from her husband within two years. They divorced five years later".) She became a drug addict and was sent to a psychiatric institution after she attempted suicide. In addition to using drugs, she sold them in San Francisco, California, and was arrested for forging a check in Hollywood, California. She acknowledged, "That was the beginning of several years in and out of jail."