Whitney Houston has checked out of rehab after just five days of treatment.
"Whitney got extremely upset and said she felt the walls were closing in on her," a source close to the distressed diva told the Daily News.

Her spokeswoman, Nancy Seltzer, refused to divulge her whereabouts, but the source said the singer was drying out in rented digs near her Atlanta home.

"Miss Houston is continuing the prescribed treatment, as was planned," Seltzer insisted. "Her movements are in total keeping with the program."

Seltzer also said Houston "remains supportive of [her] husband," Bobby Brown, but will not be with him when he appears in a Boston court today in a paternity suit.

A woman claims he fathered her two children and has not paid child support. Houston and Brown are the parents of 10-year-old Bobbi Kristina, who has been staying with relatives.

Until Monday, Brown was in jail, a short drive from the Atlanta rehabilitation center into which Houston checked herself March 15. He was doing 60 days for violating probation on several charges, including a battery count for smacking the singer around.

As he exited, Brown told the "Extra" celeb television show that "this is the last time you'll see me coming out of here or going in" and begged the media to let him and Houston "live for a while and enjoy each other. Get some sobriety, you know."

But whether, Houston, 40, who said sayonara to the clinic at 3:20 p.m. Saturday, can beat her demons is yet to be seen.

The Grammy-winning singer admitted in December 2002 that she abused cocaine, pills, marijuana and liquor. She also claimed to have kicked her habit with the help of a spiritual adviser.

The adviser, Prince Asiel Ben Israel, told CBS' "The Early Show" yesterday that Houston is hooked on prescription drugs, not marijuana and cocaine.

"When you've got the demands of the press and the demands of your public, you're trying to take a pill to stay up and one to lay down," he said. "I think it's that kind of lifestyle."

Houston has been imploding for years. She was busted for pot possession in January 2000 and two months later yanked from the Oscars. In September 2001, she shocked fans when she showed up for a Michael Jackson tribute at Madison Square Garden looking emaciated.

Originally published on March 24, 2004

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