As we discussed last week, there’s a very involved conspiracy going around about Britney Spears. Britney checked into a mental health facility this month as part of the ongoing drama following her dad’s health issues. Jamie Spears has been in-and-out of hospitals since December, and Jamie has been Britney’s conservator for more than a decade. He managed – or micromanaged – every part of Britney’s life. She reportedly fell apart during his health issues. The conspiracy was that Britney was being held against her will at the facility and that all she wants is to be free of her dad and her doctors and the conservatorship in general. But TMZ has another take:
Britney Spears is at the tail end of her 30-day stay at a mental health facility … and we’ve learned more about how she landed there in the first place. As we reported, Britney has had a rough time dealing with her dad’s recent illness. Jamie and Britney are super close — he’s been her conservator for nearly a dozen years — and his health battles have taken a big toll on her.
We’re told at the same time, Britney’s doctors were adjusting her meds which had lost their efficacy. Britney’s mental health issues were stabilized with a cocktail of medicines that were designed specifically her. Over time, those meds were increasingly ineffective and doctors needed to create a new cocktail. We’re told there were problems. First, they had to wean Britney off the existing meds. This cannot be done quickly and there’s a risk of suicide if it’s not done right — it’s that serious.
As doctors weaned her off the meds, they created a new cocktail, but it’s all trial and error, and there were errors that made Britney unstable and ultimately unwilling to cooperate with doctors. She was admitted to the mental health facility and we’re told doctors think they’ve now found the right mixture of drugs. Britney got a day pass Sunday to spend time with her boyfriend, Sam Asghari, in Bev Hills. She went back to the facility the same day.
One other thing … there have been reports the conservatorship has forced meds on Britney against her will. Not true. The conservatorship Britney is under does not permit the conservator to force drugs on the person for whom the conservatorship was created. On that note, there have also been reports Jamie Spears forced Britney into the mental health facility. The type of conservatorship Britney has — through the probate court — does not allow a conservator to force someone into a mental health facility. What’s more, we’re told Jamie is adamant — he did not want his daughter to go to the facility because he thought it would leak out to the media and he felt there were better ways of solving her problems. We’re told Britney is the one who said she wanted to go.
Conspiracies around Britney crop up every month, and I tend to believe about half of them. In this case, I think there probably were some issues with her medication and it makes sense if her doctors were worried about her long-term usage of those medications losing some of the efficacy. But I also think it’s possible that Britney is like so many people who suffer with serious and life-altering mental illnesses: she was on prescription drugs which helped her and she thought she was “cured” so she decided to stop taking them. Or she stopped taking her meds because she didn’t like how they felt. My guess/conspiracy is that without anyone to monitor her full-time, Britney just stopped taking her meds at some point and Jamie gave her some options, one of which was the mental health facility. Basically, this TMZ story comes from Jamie Spears, who is trying to paint this whole thing is the best light possible. We’ll never really know what has happened with Britney over the past decade, honestly.
Britney Spears leaves mental health facility for ‘day trip’ with boyfriend Sam Asghari https://t.co/gZfPmCt0Ua pic.twitter.com/KaA9dtZpZY
— Page Six (@PageSix) April 22, 2019
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Omg. Other people’s meds are very much none of our business.
Seriously, how invasive. I’m so glad I’m not a public figure. A bunch of strangers debating whether or not I stopped taking my meds or wondering if my meds stopped working would be enough to put me in a mental health facility.
IKR?
The first time she had a breakdown in front of the world (I still think Piece of me is a great song and great video) now she (or her team) informed us she is seeking professional help, and that should be the end of it. The privacy for her meds, her medical records should be respected.
Has it ever been mentioned what her mental health issue is? Are all reports just speculation? Or do we know exactly what she suffers from?
I don’t think anyone from her camp has ever gone on the record or officially confirmed to the public what her diagnosis is (and it should probably stay that way).
I thought that she was confirmed as bipolar years ago because I have bipolar disorder, and it made me understand more what she was going through.
I wish she would consider going to a darker shade of brown.
tbh I think her hair is the least of her worries right now.
Clearly. It has nothing to do with anything. Just an observation.
I know maintaining one’s mental health (especially at her level of fame) is an arduous task. But, as a child of a therapist, and a sister of someone Bipolar, sometimes small things can make a difference.
I really hope Britney is ok! And can get to a better place. I worry about her man.
Yeah I usually worry about predators targeting Britney…she seems so fragile and trusting. But this guy seems to be…almost protective of her? I would easily believe he’s employed to care for her as much as he’s in an actual relationship with her. He doesn’t give me ‘user’ vibes though, but maybe I’m just being naive.
ITA, decades from now when someone writes the Britney unauthorized bio, we will find out that all of the “boyfriends” we’ve seen her with from the past decade have actually been paid employees with the job of playing boyfriend role for her. Regardless of how well he does that job, she looks so sad and confused and empty in the photo with him.
He’s pretty obviously an employee rather than a boyfriend, and like any employee he would be closely vetted and scrutinised by her conservators. This isn’t a Lufti situation.
From the reports I’ve heard Britney stopped taking her meds. Her dad said if she doesn’t keep taking them he would stop her Vegas show and put her in to treatment. They told the media Britney “was taking a break from her Vegas show” because of her dad’s illness but the real reason was because she stopped taking her meds. At this point, I think the only one who really knows the truth is Britney.
She has the worst fans with this #FreeBritney BS. They think they know what’s best for her, but can’t grasp that it’s none of their business and should instead be applauding Britney for seeking help. I wish her well.
Yeah, I have a family member who works with a population that is often placed into conservatorships once they reach 18.
I have always believed Britney is more than just “bipolar” because she has a permanent conservator.
She looks extremely unwell. Mental illness often presents in the 20’s and I long suspected she may be a Low-Functioning schizophrenic. Regardless, thankfully she has family members who care enough to help manage her health. I think it is absolutely crazy talk to act like Britney has been somehow kidnapped against her will. Britney probably has NO CLUE whats going on around her
I was just thinking that too. To me it either seems like a very serious bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. I can’t think of any other conditions that would require the type of conservatorship she has. I can understand no-one in her family wanting to come out and clarify if it is schizophrenia, because still it has such a terrible stigma.
I hate those fans too!
I was a HUGE Britney fan when I was a teen, as in I knew all the choreography, watched every interview and etc, so it’s really heartbreaking seen her this way. But I would never ever wish her out of her conservatorship because I can see that is the only reason she is alive today. Her breakdown was obviously so much worse behind the scenes, and God knows what she is like or capable of when she isn’t on her meds.
People want to see her back 100% to her old self, but unfortunately, that will never happen, and we should be happy for all the hard work she, her dad and her team have put in these past 12 years to make sure she is in a place where she can watch her children grow up and still do work she loves. I do like to believe that she has at least some say in what will happen, even though she has no power to make the ultimate decision.
I’m afraid of what will happen to Britney if her father is terminal. I don’t know much about her sister or brother, but I hope one of them are prepared to step up to the plate. How can any fan look at those recent pictures and think she is okay and should be on her own?
@Amanda23 You can have a public or a private conservatorship. If Britney’s dad was to die (which will eventually happen as we all die), if none of the family members were able to be the conservator (it’s a lot of work and not everyone is built for it), the judge who oversees her file would grant the conservatorship to a panel of lawyers and/or social workers or some state department (that part probably varies from one state to another). It something that happens quite often to non-famous people (there are aging parents taking care of their disabled adult child everywhere), there are rules and regulations in place for such a situation. And I’m pretty sure that the conservators/the estate have some papers detailing how all this should take place. It’d be necessary would it be only for insurance purposes whenever they sign up for a new tour/residency/record.
This scenario is, unfortunately, all too plausible. People with mental and mood disorders desperately need better treatments/medication.
Britney seems really unwell right now and those that care for her are scrambling to try and help her, not imprison her or whatever. I wish she didn’t have to live all of this out publicly. She was doing so well for a long time. That’s when people start thinking they can do it without meds…
One of Britney’s fans on twitter posted the video of Harvey Levine claiming that after talking to multiple Britney sources she does not have bipolar but was talking meds for bipolar. So what’s really going on?
Whatever is going on, Harvey Levine is not an authority. He is not a part of her medical, legal, or conservator team. Also, many medications can be used to treat many things.
Why are Harvey Levine and his “sources” anything that should be given credibility? Wouldn’t he just be stirring the conspiracy pot for clicks?
At the same time, and the doctors here can explain better than I can, medications usually treating one disorder may be useful in another. For example, what’s called schizo-affective disorder may combine features of schizophrenia (a cognitive illness, primarily) and mood disorder.
Psychiatric drugs aren’t quite as black and white as others, they are used “off label” all the time. Very low dose antipsychotics are prescribed for chronic insomnia as an example. Someone taking a drug usually prescribed and/or designed for bi-polar might not have a bi-polar diagnosis, taking drugs usually prescribed for schizophrenia may not have a diagnosis of schizophrenia. All we can know is that clearly it’s not something she wants to detail for the public which is her absolute right.
The meds for bipolar disorder are notoriously hit or miss and have myriad side effects, so this wouldn’t be surprising if it’s true. Treatment for the severely mentally ill is well behind the times. Now, whether this sort of information should be available to the general public is a completely different issue. Christ, this poor woman.
It is just like that story says, you need to wean off the old meds slowly before starting the new ones, and if it doesn’t work, you need to try again. And again. It can be a really long and painful hit-and-miss process.
What a lot of people don’t understand is that there are no perfect meds for some mental illnesses. It’s not like you take a pill or two for your bipolar disorder or schizophrenia and you get your old, pre-illness life back. Most of these meds come with awful side effects you simply can not live with. They destroy your quality of life in such a way that you’d rather live with the illness unmedicated than keep taking the pills.
It took 7 years to find the right combination for my bipolar disorder. It was one of the most difficult times in my life but thankfully I had a really good doctor who kept encouraging me to keep trying and finally he found a relatively new medication that works like a charm. When it started working, it was like someone switched the lights on inside my brain, it was so incredible I can’t find any adequate words to describe it. I’m experiencing some side effects but they’re not too bad, so based on my personal experience it seems like they are developing new meds that might in the future improve the quality of life for more people with mental illnesses.
Not one to feed in to hysteria nor do I want to put her through the ringer more than she has in the court of public opinion, but there is still something weird about all this. I hope the best for her.
I think Britney has major mental health issues that are probably far worse than we know. She very well may need to be in a lockdown facility to keep her safe. She is getting out occasionally as we’ve seen picture proof of. I’m sure it’s a nice facility and not a sterile, hospital type facility. From my understanding, doctors will not release a patient until they are safe to leave. If she is a danger to herself then she needs to be around professionals that know how to treat her. We don’t know the actual truth behind all of this either way. It’s sad all the way around.
Her boyfriend looks sad/worried. I just hope she’s OK. I love her ❤️
Everyone who has to take medication for mental illnesses have a “customized” cocktail and yes, it happens that the medications that have been working for a decade stop working because the brain/hormones/body changes as we age. Finding a new combo that that works can take time and can be difficult (one of my old labmate collapsed with seizures in the middle of our lab, it was quite dramatic).
Fortunately, for most people, they don’t have to go through this in public; unfortunately for Britney, she does.
My anti depressants have had to be adjusted more than a few times due to loss of efficacy. It sucks when they ‘stop working’ and it can be really difficult to find an alternative medication. I’m still trying to find one that works as well as I’d like. Such is life. I wish Britney the best. 🖖🏽
Best of luck to you! Until I had my own experience with it (with a close family member), I didn’t think that they could actually ‘stop working.’ I thought people just went off of them too soon without giving them a chance to work.
Nicegirl–I hope you find an efficacious alternative anti-depressant soon. I know how nightmarish it is to endure depression w/out medical treatment, in my own case. I have been on nearly all of the available ADs, as well as other “treatments” throughout my adolescence and adulthood, none worked, finally I’ve been taking a MAOi, which is highly restricting diet wise but also the only thing that helps my severe major depression even a little. Having to stop taking it every time it wears off, to revive its effects, is abysmal and life threatening for me. I will be on it all my life—and if it were, over time, as I age, to stop working, at this point I’d have no options for antidepressants left. So I feel for Brittany; I hope she did not stop taking her meds b/c she likes the “high” of her mania (a reason why some bipolar people opt out of their medication) but b/c they weren’t working as well, and that a very rapid, simple adjustment can be made so that she’ll feel much better again, ASAP.
THank you Valerie and Catarina😉🖖🏽💕
And Harvey Levin is a hack
Geez so much for HIPPA . Love you Brit stay strong we all got you.
Not to be a Negative Nelly here but what happens to her when her father passes away? Who will have the conservatorship over her then? Her sister maybe? I hope she is getting all the help she needs and I wish she could just step out of the spotlight for a year or two and just focus on herself and being well.
The court can appoint someone. But with her father’s health being questionable, hopefully the family has had discussions about this and whether her brother or sister feel comfortable taking on the role.
I hope Britney is getting the care and treatment that she needs. I really dislike TMZ poking about in her medical business and anyone working in a medical facility that is violating her privacy and leaking to them should be fired.
This is so sad. I really hope she’s okay. I have a relative who went off their meds for no apparent reason about six years ago and they’ve never really recovered from it. I’ve since learned what a delicate balance managing mental illness with medications is. It’s astounding and sad because they were once independent and can no longer be.
Britney is young and therefore a little more resilient, but I’ve also learned that every time you go off, it’s harder to get back on. Adjustments often have to be made. And it gets more difficult as you age. 🙁
Sorry, not buying it. Britney has seemed so unhappy the past ten years. The RescueBritney account on twitter has a great, very in-depth thread about the legal background of the conservatorship, all of the judges who have histories of partiality, embezzlement, etc when handling conservatorship cases, and how these “retired” judges now act as alternative mediation adjudicators.
On top of that, Jamie has gotten restraining orders on numerous attorneys to whom Britney has tried to reach out, specifically one who has a voicemail from Britney saying her father uses the threat of taking away visitations to manipulate her.
Not to mention the fact that her own mother is liking and following people who say that Britney is being held against her will. Her mother is no saint, but the legality of this LIFETIME conservatorship has never been fully examined, and I truly believe that she’s being medicated against her will. All of these anecdotes are personal stories of people who take medication of their own volition, and Britney has never been diagnosed (even TMZ has reported this before)
Devil’s Advocate: My friend saw her in LA on Saturday with one of her sons, walking and speaking freely without handlers. Could we be dealing with doppelgängers and/or false story plants? Who knows, but free Britney foreal.
I saw her perform last year at F1, which was the last show of her tour (they celebrated and shot off fireworks at the end). She did a ton of choreography, more complex than I’d seen in most live videos floating around from earlier years.
She was sharp and precise in her movements, put on a great show, bantered a little with the audience, and was all-around in great shape. Out of the many professional dancers surrounding her, she stood out as the star, both in her dancing and charisma. I didn’t have any certain expectations going in, that was what I observed.
To be able to dance and perform like that while on meds is frankly incredible. I thought then that she must be on a well-adjusted dose that allowed her to keep her physical sharpness. It’s great she’s getting treatment.
There’s maintenance required when you live with a mental illness, and things change, and it’s not necessarily anyone’s fault. It’s a huge life adjustment to face her father’s mortality. He’s been her stability. It’s pretty clear performing and her kids are her life. The conservatorship has facilitated both those things. She’s a strong woman, no matter what anyone says, who copes with her circumstances remarkably well.
I have a friend who has gone untreated for years. Long story short she tried to kill herself. She got a 8 hour operation to save her but they still couldn’t put her in a mental facility. After 48 hours of observation she signed herself out easily. I was terrified how could they let her so easily after all that.
She went back though on her own volition and stayed 15 days there. They gave her a diagnose for the first time in her life and meeds. She was doing well for 6 months and then…she just stoped. Somehow she convinced herself she was ok. She is bad. Has been bad for a long time. She is so unstable that a friend of mine refuses to meet her because she feels sadness and rage at the same time for how she refuses treatment. She tried to go on meeds again for a few days but because they lowered her libido she stoped again and now they don’t even work anymore. She takes them like a normal person would take an aspirin.
As for B here if she is getting such a serious treatment it only means she really needs it and someone is taking serious care of her. Wish her all the best.