To be saddened but unsurprised by Britney Spears' testimony?

[plodalong12]

Listening to this and hearing Britney talk about the control of her father reminded me of watching the documentary Amy and I feel the same sort of Mitch Winehouse/Amy Winehouse vibe and we all know how that ended.

Someone is either too mentally ill to be in control of their own life or they are deemed well enough to be a judge on The X Factor, do a four-year Vegas live show followed immediately by a world tour. It can't be both.

"I haven't done anything in the world to deserve this treatment. It's not okay to force me to do anything I don't want to do"

@Lelliebellieboo

I just listened to the entire testimony, it's truly heartbreaking. The fact that a rich, white woman, known to the entire world can be taken advantage of in this way is utterly frightening. What the hell is happening to people without her financial means or platform to speak up for themselves?

Surely the only thing they can do now is to start from scratch and assess her independently - away from her toxic family so she can have a real diagnosis and be given back her autonomy.

I've always loved Britney - she's always been so humble and positive, with never a bad word to say about anyone. The fact that its her very own family who have done this to her is chilling.

This is exactly how i feel too. I confess i hadnt thought too much about it until I heard her testimony. Truly heartbreaking.

There is no way she has dementia! I have just listened to the audio and no way does she have dementia! I have worked in care for over a decade and sadly have seen too many cases of early onset dementia. Few have lived beyond 5 years and all have deteriorated very rapidly. Early onset dementia is usually very aggressive and very distressing. There is no way she would be able to work or to speak in court with that diagnosis! No way!!!

@nolongersurprised

I don’t support enforced contraception at all but it’s a nuanced situation, in that lithium can cause severe congenital birth defects. Which doesn’t mean that other meds can’t be used as an alternative, but again we don’t know her psychiatric/medication history

from what shes told the judge though she wasnt orginally on lithium , but on other meds that shed been on for 5 years before being forced off them and being put on it , she said it made her a zombie unable to have a proper conversation , also from her dads point of view and others benefitting from the conservatorship her being out of it and complient must have suited well , similarly if she gets pregnant she wont be working and the cash wont keep flowing as plentifully for them

I also don't believe that her father would put her on contraceptives for the potential safety concerns surrounding children, considering her children have a restraining order against him for attacking them, which is currently the main reason she isn't able to have 50/50 split custody of them that the courts previously approved.

Does anyone know what happened with her children? I hope she still gets to see them!

My ex now late husbands Bi Polar was diagnosed with a blood test and his mother also had it (though we didn't know at the time) so you can draw your own conclusions from that fact. I listened to Britney's testimony, it was horrendous and very moving when she compared herself to a trafficked slave. Yes she may have needed some care at the start but at what point does care blend into abuse & control, I firmly believe that she is simply a cash cow for all the hangers on and I hope she does successfully sue the lot of them.

Why isn't her father's capacity to be a conservator being examined? He's a known alcoholic, he's also known to be violent with people (Britney's own sons have a restraining order against him), Brit herself has said she's "afraid" of him, yet the courts deem his opinion more than hers?

If she needs a conservator, then it should be regularly assessed that she has the right one in place surely?

Jamie wants to have his cake and eat it. He wants to have his daughter classed as having dementia and incapacitated. Yet he also wants her to earn millions of dollars judging X Factor, doing Las Vegas residencies, going on tour, releasing albums. It's such a contradiction.

I always thought Larry Rudulph was one of the good guys around her - I'm genuinely surprised by his role in this as well.

@Isla2021

Does anyone know what happened with her children? I hope she still gets to see them!

she had 50:50 custody, then when Jamie Spears tried to hit one of the boys, Kevin Federline altered the custody to 70:30

I've always thought she wanted out of the conservatorship but she was threatened with having access to her kids taken away if she did so.

@Awalkintime

I think psychiatry is abusive and that all the labels - bipolar, PBD is all crap and they're all labels for women who have suffered trauma. They're doped up and the trauma never dealt with.

There is a new book by Dr Jessica Taylor called Sexy by Psycho which is all about how psychiatrists label women as mentally unwell when they are not.

I was a mental health nurse for many years and I can assure you there were just as many men probably more actually, diagnosed with long term mental illness,s such as Bipolar disorders, Schizophrenia, schizo affective disorders etc ,I also worked with both male and female Consultant Psychiatrist,s .

She may need a caregiver and management of her finances but if she does, it's very odd that she should also be able to work and pay those deciding she works - this whole thing is rotten to the core.

I think psychiatry is abusive and that all the labels - bipolar, PBD is all crap and they're all labels for women who have suffered trauma. They're doped up and the trauma never dealt with.

No really.... It's a thing. Not to say trauma doesn't play a role but I've seen it recur down generations.

@BarbarianMum

You think that all bipolar disorder is the result of abuse *@Awalkintime*? Is there any research to support that?

Anecdotal but I used to work with people with bipolar and have yet to meet one who wasn't seriously abused in childhood.

I also think this wouldn't have happened to this degree if she were a man, or it would have been a scandal sooner.

Mental illness is real but Britney's dad has used it against her to control her. Kanye West has kept control of his finances ?. She needs an independent psychiatrist not bank rolled by her dad if she lacks capacity to manage her finances an independent appointee with regular audits should be put in place . That's what happens here , her dad shouldn't be involved at all !!

The worst part of the whole thing with Britney is that the mental health issues she has are most likely to stem from the fact that she has been pushed into showbiz at a very young age, starting pretty young on the Mickey Mouse club. And you can be damn certain her father was doing well financially from that too. He is an utterly vile man.

I also find it incomprehensible that a conservatorship can be put in place with no need to review periodically.

The NYT expose also said that Britney requested that her (alcoholic) father be subject to the same drug and alcohol tests that she and everyone she goes on tour with have to do. He said in court that he refused to do so and the judge said something like 'quite right, who is she to demand that?'. The misogyny and abuse of power goes right to the top.

So in 13yrs(????) what medical help has she been given & why the need for tours?

How were they approved?

If she needs help/guidance, that's one thing.

Why her Dad?

Why does he need a wage plus to control everything else?

It's truly horrifying.

@TakeYourFinalPosition

I’m really torn on this. I don’t think the public can have an opinion without access to her medical history; which understandably won’t be released.

My mother had bipolar. She had very bad meltdowns, would be stabilised in a psychiatric institution and then released on Lithium… and she’d tell anyone who would listen, competently and coherently; that she was being drugged by force and made to have therapy. It was what kept her stable. She’d take herself off the meds, and then end up having another psychotic episode. She wasn’t forced on birth control but it went to court a few times and as one of four kids; I wish she had of been.

I’m not saying that Britney has this - I have no idea - but it’s not uncommon behaviour amongst people with BPD.

Maybe her dad is an absolute arsehole, and maybe she should be totally released, but I don’t think we can make that call. I hope the judge can.

I agree with this. Someone may come across as coherent and think they can be responsible on their own but as soon as the medication stops it's a downward spiral. I'm not saying this is the case here but hopefully a judge will have enough information to understand what is going on here.

Not sure why the dad is paying himself £16k/month though unless that money is for her expenses?

YANBU

Does she have a diagnosis?
As I recall she had two babies in quick succession,and a failed marriage ,she may well have had a "psychotic episode" lots of people do,but most recover fairly quickly ,even if she was diagnosed with a long term,these can managed well a lot of the time ,and ime ,people who have unmanaged mental illness,s would be unable to hold down a job for any length of time,I would seriously doubt she could travel and do tours with an unmanaged mental illness.

It is very very simple - if her mental health is so severe that she cannot be trusted to manage her own money, life, children etc in any way whatsoever, then there is no way she should have been working/performing at the level she has been for the last decade or more.

It is absolutely 100% disgusting and simply would not happen to a man. You look at the behaviour of rich famous men and see how appallingly badly they behave and act and treat their friends/family/colleagues etc.... but no one ever suggests they should have all autonomy removed.

It actually makes me feel quite ill when I read about this.

I read that she was diagnosed with early onset dementia. If that were true I'm surprised that there's not more sign of deterioration.

Apparently the diagnosis for the original conservatorship was early onset dementia. But this was from leaked court papers so it may not be true.

She said she was forced onto lithium for non compliance at work (when she said she was compliant) so it could be bipolar, schizophrenia or major depression disorder.

Or it could literally be nothing more than an acute psychotic episode / breakdown or 'hysteria' 13 years ago; or potentially wasn't even a psychotic episode and she really was being chased by people (paps), feeling like she was threatened/ at risk, and her paranoid 'delusions' that her team/family were out to get her/ use her/ exploit her were actually true.

What makes me laugh is the portrayal of her original break down - shaving head and the baseball Incident which even in the documentary seemed to be the main focus points.
Like Christ a women shaving her head and hitting a car with a baseball bat not like she hammered it over the head with it plus the guy came across a total you know what on the documentary.

So she lost it - we all have the potential of doing so.
Obviously beyond that we don’t really know exactly but the way the press focused on that as her mental breakdown that lead to 13 years of her life being controlled i just don’t understand.

I wonder if Mr Spears would be so keen to control his daughters life if she wasn’t so rich.