Dear Lynne and Jamie Spears: Hooray For The Intervention; Now Here's What Your Daughter Britney May Really Be Suffering From!
Lynne and Jamie Spears, Brit's parents, and her new psychiatrist have now successfully staged an intervention to get the distressed pop star into UCLA Medical Center under a three-day psychiatric hold so she can be evaluated. If she were my daughter I'd be right there too, begging Brit to accept treatment.
It doesn't look like it's going to be easy. Brit's so-called "manager" Sam Lufti who's glued to Brit's side whenever her paparazzo boyfriend Adnan isn't, appears to be trying to take control and possibly sabotage the situation and has already publicly said that Lynne and Jamie have an "agenda," saying that they barged into her home. Brit herself has apparently signed some document putting Lufti in charge of her medical care.
The big question, if the Spearses are successful in getting her to cooperate is — 
what is truly wrong with their daughter? The latest theory thrown out by some close to her is that she's suffering from "multiple personality disorder."
After all, she's speaking with an English accent, wearing a pink wig and according to some sources, her mood and her personality can do a 360° switch in a matter of seconds. Some members of her inner circle have even suggested that the reason she doesn't show up for her sons' custody hearings is that her "English" personality doesn't know about them. Or that the Louisiana Britney that we are familiar with gets in her car and sets out to attend, but that British Britney takes over along the way. That's why she circles the courthouse and doesn't go in — because she doesn't know why she's there.
Courthouse forgetfulness aside; what do the medical pros think about this latest explanation for Britney's behavior? First of all, it's no longer called multiple personality disorder. That's an old term. Today, this mental affliction has been renamed Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).
"I don't believe for a second that she's got Dissociative Identity Disorder," Cooper Lawrence, a psychology expert and author of the new book, The Cult of Perfection, tells me. "Just because she's speaking with a British accent doesn't mean she's suddenly DID. Dissociative Identity Disorder is usually the result of horrible childhood abuse, and the symptoms would have shown up years ago, and there's no evidence of either of those things."
Instead Lawrence believes Britney is most likely suffering from a "histrionic" personality and is probably also bi-polar to boot. She directs me to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders which lists eight criteria for a "histrionic" personality, and they do seem strikingly relevant to Britney. Just read these.
A "histrionic" person is:
1) Someone who's uncomfortable in situations where they are not the center of attention. So it's probably a good thing that Brit's parents left pregnant Jamie Lynn at home!
2) Someone who exhibits inappropriate sexually seductive and provocative behavior! Like parading around nude in clothing boutiques and "forgetting" to wear underpants with minidresses!
3) Someone who has a style of speech which is excessively impressionistic or "overly dramatic." That could explain the British accent and the gibberish that people have heard Brit speaking.
4) Someone who considers relationships to be more intimate than they really are — like her "instantly serious boyfriend Adnan," the latest in a series of instantly serious guy pals.
5) Someone who displays rapidly shifting emotions. For instance, crying, then laughing hysterically while strapped to a stretcher on the way to the hospital.
6) Someone who consistently uses their appearance to draw attention to themselves. Think pink wigs, ripped fishnets, and the see-through blouse in daylight, in public.
7) Someone who is very theatrical or exaggerated. Any number of Brit's recent antics qualify here. For example, holding her son Jayden hostage in a bathroom for three hours, skipping a courthouse custody appearance and then going to a church where paparazzi can clearly snap her praying.
8) Someone who is easily influenced by others or circumstances. That could explain her new svengali, "manager" Sam Lufti, who appears almost surgically attached to her side and who appears to be at war with her parents.
From Britney's seeming inability to go anywhere these days without hordes of paparazzi following her every move, to shaving her head in full view of their cameras, to having a highly public meltdown less than two weeks after her sister's pregnancy announcement, she does appear to be hopelessly addicted to being the center of attention. Could she even have married twice for attention, then gotten pregnant twice for attention? Was she hoping that her children would give her more of the attention she craves? Was motherhood a disappointment because it turned out that babies actually required major attention from Brit, instead of giving it to her? Is this why she appears so conflicted about actually getting to see them again?
Psychology expert Cooper believes Britney is probably bi-polar on top of being histrionic. And 
clinical psychologist Dr. Judy Kurianski agrees that Brit is most likely bi-polar and is experiencing the manic phase of the disease. The symptoms for bi-polar disease are similar to histrionic. When people are in a manic state "they can speak in different accents, say words that make no sense or talk gibberish. They are tremendously overactive, can dress up in different outfits or walk out naked in public. They can spend lots of money," she explains.
And Brit, with her long daily drives all over LA to gas stations and convenience stores, her reckless 100 mph car races that are terrifying even to the paparazzi, and her recent $10,000 middle of the night shopping spree at boutique Kitson, definitely appears to fit those criteria. People in a manic state can go for days without sleeping, and Brit has reportedly now not slept since last Saturday.
Manic phases of the disease can last for years, according to Kurianski. And someone in a manic state like Britney can actually be "very exciting to be around. They're tremendously entertaining, outrageous, uninhibited, energetic, daring and up. They've got nerve and they're oversexualized," says Kurianski.
They also apparently have no desire to change. Only when they finally hit a depressive state is there any incentive to get help, says Kurianski.
Lawrence agrees that the more histrionic Britney appears to be, the bigger payoff in attention she gets, so she has no real incentive to agree to take meds and get other treatment.
I wish you the best of luck mom and pop Spears. If she were my daughter I'd be doing the exact same thing.
Follow Bonnie Fuller on Twitter: www.twitter.com/bonniefuller
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Interesting article. As I read the criteria, I thought of Madonna when she was younger. The culmination of the behavior described seemed to be the publication of her book "SEX." Fortunately, Madonna was able to pull her life into control and she's still able to share her considerable creative talents with the world. I hope Britney is able to do the same. The thing is, whatever the diagnosis is, Britney didn't arrive there alone. She's been exploited and hunted in a way that would make even a person with the strongest ego structure insane. Sure, she's demonstrated some self-absorbed behavior and her children have suffered because of it, and that is the major tragedy here, but sadly that could be said of at least 85 % of the American population.
I hope she gets the help she needs.
This girl is on her way to an early grave. I have no idea what is medically wrong with her but it is apparent that something is. She needs to be out of the spotlight for at least a year in order to heal whatever it is that ails her. Either way, bipolar or just plain spoiled, she is dying by inches.
I've never seen the media forgive a single Bipolar...
Lufti's "undue influence" may be relatively easy to reveal before a judge. He certainly has a great deal to lose, and therefor a conflict of interest, if his client is suddenly less entertaining, and more "normal" as she is stabilized under the care of a true, Mental Health Professional, and not Dr. Phil, who is not even apparently licensed to practice in California. (Come on Phil, ... look at the cards in your pocket!)
This is the best chance Britney has, and anything that interferes with it might ultimately cost her life. No one should want to be part of that, not her fans, her family, or her manager.
Before she was "loved" by her fans and hawked by the paps, ... she was just a kid from the rural South trying to make her way. Are we in America so jaded that we forget that? Do we insist on killing everyone in the public spotlight? Are we Stalkers by Proxy?
Maybe Britney is more sane than we as a culture, if that is truly the case.
I don't know what the exact problem is, I just hope they keep her away from the damn $cientologists.
Until the state of CA intervenes to invest a responsible adult with power of attorney, there is no hope of this young woman getting the care she needs. And even if she does, most of what passes for psychiatric and psychological assistance is quackery. They'll open that big book you mentioned, prescribe a cocktail of drugs (with side effects that may be worse than the desease), and...well
I am a parent of a 26 year old and we have been through this ordeal. We lack Britney's financial resources, but we have something she desperately needs: privacy. And once we started saying no to the drug pushers (did I say that? I mean health care professionals), our daughter started coming back.
Good luck Britney. I hope you are able to get both privacy, and a competent individual to help you with your affairs.
if her personality were to do a 360 degree switch, wouldn't that mean she'd be exactly where she started?
Is it possible that she's just an idiot? Just a spoiled self-indulgent nitwit? Add drug addictions, fame addictions, sex addictions - all due to the easy access to all of them, and you have an incredible mess.
But what's up with TMZ and LKLive's obsessive coverage of this? Then LKL does shows about too much paparazzi.
She's an addict. No bells, no whistles. She needs to get clean and then get to therapy. I don't think her parents will help her much in the recovery process but getting her into treatment is inherent to her staying alive.
Odd..I always thought that histrionic primarily described someone who makes a big deal out of stuff about which you...ooop
I think we can all agree that as long as you...ooop
Attempts by the media to make snap medical diagnoses of mentally ill celebrities results in perpetrating confusion and myths about brain disorders -- their causes, symptomes and treatments.
While I am sure she is well-intentioned, Ms. Fuller demonstrates a lack of understanding of the subject about which she writes. For anyone who truly cares about the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness, go the web site of the National Alliance on Mental Illness nami.orgg). NAMI directly ssists families and friends coping with brain disorders among their loved ones. It has done more to assist,educate and advocate in this field than any organization I am aware of. NAMI runs free programs for families, and provide training to professionals (psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and law enforcement officials)in the field.
The largest institutions in most states housing the acutely mentally ill are jails, thanks to right wing politicians and general public ignorance.
I alone, the all-seeing all-knowing eye of Aggamodo, know what is wrong with Britney.
Her summer tour of 2006 had to be cancelled because of lack of ticket sales. Watch for the rehabilitaion, God, the Oprah, the View and a new album.
How foolish we are to vicariously live our lives through others.
Britney Spears is suffering from a bad case of "I can't hear the word No." She has had nothing but yes men around her since she was a child in the Mickey Mouse Club. And when she was 16 with her first big hit, they said you can have whatever you want just keep making hits, selling records, and selling out concerts.
She has never really grown up with any real responsibilities, and anyone who tells her no has been cut out of her life. She isn't bi polar, and this isn't postpartum depression. She has simply never grown up. Ever wonder why Britney still acts like she is a 12 year old? Why do you think she was so awkward with her own children? Because she is mentally 12 raising 2 kids.
She needs some tough love, and time out of the lime light. She needs to grow up. Sadly with all of her money, that could make it nearly impossible for her to grow up. She has endless funds. She makes something like 700k a month. If only a judge could find her mentally immature and put her mother or someone responsible in charge of it until she gets well. That would be her only chance.
Errr... just as a writing thing, I think you mean 180, not 360. There are 360 degrees in a circle. So, if you turn 180 degrees, you are facing the opposite direction you started out. If you turn 360 degrees, you are right back exactly where you started.
I know that US math & science education isn't exactly top quality, but please...
We've let Britney be devoured by the media for nine years. She has done her own part to demand the spotlight, but we begged the paparazzi to fill our salacious appetite for all things Britney. Now she is cracking up before our very eyes and the appetite just grows. She needs space to work on herself away from the cameras. Leaving her alone would be the honorable thing to do.
Before I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder almost 5 years ago, there was a great deal of speculation by my husband's family & their friend, a diabetic nurse (whose mother worked in mental health care, resulting in the friend's certainty that she was qualified to diagnose me). She decided I had terrible personality disorders & told my husband to leave me because I was ___ and unfit to be a mother & wife. Thankfully, I came under the care of a doctor who took the time to get to know me & we realized that my family's illness had been activated in me.
My point is: all of these armchair diagnoses by people who don't know Britney, nor her personal and family histories, are utterly meaningless & simply perpetuate the worst stereotypes & fears about the mentally ill. You cannot diagnose a person from afar. No matter how many disclaimers by Dr. ___ "who has never treated Britney", they do nothing to remove this horrible appetite for destruction & are unprofessional.
My own treatment has been very successful. I work incredibly hard at being well & managing my illness as best I can. My dear husband defied his parents upon my real diagnosis, & we have a wonderful marriage & our sweet boys learn emotional intelligence. My in-laws ate crow & we are also on very good terms.
I wish the same positive outcome for Britney & her boys. As her career was rising she showed how HARD she is capable of working. She has a real chance to apply that same work ethic to her health. Whatever path of wellness she follows needs to be respected and given a real chance for success. The hearts of two little ones are at stake.
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