Susan Boyle Hospitalized

Scottish singing sensation Susan Boyle was taken to a London clinic for treatment following her second-place finish in a nationwide talent competition.

Boyle, 48, was admitted to the Priory Clinic on Sunday, a day after she finished behind a male dance group in the "Britain's Got Talent" television show, reports CBS News correspondent Richard Roth, who says officials at the clinic won't comment on the situation.

Boyle was the heavy favorite to win the finals -- watched by over 19 million people -- after becoming a YouTube sensation following her first appearance on the show in April. By Friday, the pressure appeared to be building relentlessly on the shy singer, who reportedly went into seclusion after exploding at journalists from Britain's notoriously aggressive tabloids.

The television company talkbackThames said Boyle was "exhausted and emotionally drained" and was taking a few days off.

"She has been seen by her private GP, who supports her decision to take a few days out for rest and recovery," the company said. "We offer her our ongoing support and wish her a speedy recovery."

Roth says the clinic specializes in addiction recovery -- and mental health care.

Britain's Sun newspaper adds that, after tears and a tantrum from Boyle, her handlers had to help her into an ambulance to get her to the clinic.

"BGT" judge Amanda Holden said on The Early Show Monday she thinks "it's kind of what everybody's saying, really. I think it's taken its toll on her. She's gone from a woman nobody knew to worldwide fame, and I think, for anybody in the business to handle that kind of stress is an enormous amount of pressure, and I think she probably has just crumbled under it. ... She will just need some time to recuperate and rest. And actually, it's probably a blessing she didn't win, because now the spotlight is not so heavily on her. So, perhaps now she can just relax and enjoy what's happening to her, rather than feel the pressure."

Another "BGT" judge says Boyle had been seeing doctors all week, but she's fine. "She needs to get away from everyone," observed Piers Morgan, "get away from the show, from the media, from the public, and just have a bit of downtime to herself to sleep."

"Like her sudden rise to fame," Roth points out, "Boyle's surprising upset helped fuel a ratings bonanza for the TV talent show -- whose critics now are asking if a vulnerable woman was exploited in the process."

Boyle's first voice coach, Fred O'Neil, recalled on The Early Show Monday that, "When (Boyle) told me she was going in to "Britian's Got Talent," it seemed like a great, great thing for Susan to do. She'd been in lots of talent competitions before. And her dream is to sing, and to be heard by a larger audience. So, that all seemed wonderful. It was just, when it kicked off into this massive YouTube, global attention that I was starting to worry. You know, around her house, it was like an absolute media circus. You really couldn't even drive down her street."

O'Neil added, "She's a strong woman, inside of herself, and I do think she can recover from this. She's recovered from the death of her parents, who she adored. And -- you know, she was extremely, so upset after that for a long time. She's come through that. And I think that, with care, you know, and if she's treated with, you know, 'Just watch what we're doing here,' I think she can come through and, you know, go on to great happiness."

Boyle drew 20.2 percent of the vote in the final, behind the dance group Diversity, which won 24.9 percent of the 4 million votes cast.

Holden said on The Early Show Monday that "Diversity" is "fantastic." Even so, said Holden, "We were absolutely stunned at the result, because we kind of did think it was a given that Susan was going to win."

The discovery that a 48-year-old woman from a small Scottish town was capable of singing very well on a national stage made Boyle an international sensation. Heavy media coverage followed, much of it laced with snide commentary about her looks, her social awkwardness, and her remark that she had never been kissed.

Still, on Oprah Winfrey's show, the singer said she was "loving every second" of her unexpected stardom.

And, Roth notes, in the small industry that's blossomed around Boyle, there's still the expectation she'll be back in the limelight, and that her talent -- or her celebrity -- could earn her millions.

CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton explained on The Early Show Monday that, "The terms 'exhaustion' or 'nervous breakdown' are not medical terms. They don't exist in the medical community. Typically, when we hear those terms, doctors think of something called acute psychosis, or a psychotic break, which usually means someone has an underlying predisposition, and that all of these environmental situations ... fatigue, or pressure, really just are too much for them and push them over the edge. But ... without an underlying psychiatric or psychological condition in general, usually people would not wind up hospitalized because of this."

Later in the broadcast, Holden said, "I think everybody's kind talking about it like that she has some kind of predisposition. But to be absolutely honest ... I don't think there is anything that can prepare anybody, even the producers of our show, for the phenomenon that was Susan Boyle. It was an incredible experience."