It looks like there may be more to the phony 911 call to actress Heather Locklear’s home than originally believed. At first, it was reported that the 911 call was a mistake, but since the 911 tape has been released, sources say that the individual who called was actually Locklear’s psychiatrist, who received a late night phone call from her in which she revealed that she “felt like killing [her]self.”

An audio tape of a man, reported to be Heather Locklear’s psychiatrist, requesting emergency assistance at the actress’ house has been publicly released. “I have a patient and I have a feeling she’s suicidal. And I would want someone to go [check on her],” says the caller whose name was apparently redacted before the tape was released to the public.

The 911 call came in on Saturday, March 8. Authorities said they found no problems when they responded to the call and Locklear’s rep said the actress was “fine.”

But The ENQUIRER can exclusively reveal that Locklear has had a years-long battle with booze, drugs and depression, she has detoxed in private, lived with sober companions and secretly been hospitalized for her problems, according to a source.

“Heather was on the phone with her psychiatrist when he became alarmed because she was upset and seemed intoxicated,” a close pal told The ENQUIRER. “At one point Heather said: ‘I’m just so sad and bummed out, I feel like killing myself right now!’

“Her doctor did not take it as an idle threat.”

[From the National Enquirer Online]

As usual, any story in the Enquirer is suspect by nature. I certainly hope that if Heather is battling substance abuse and depression, she gets treatment. She’s been around forever and seems to be very well liked in Hollywood. It should be noted that her ex, Richie Sambora, has a longstanding alcohol problem and was just in rehab at Cirque in Utah. This may not mean anything, but considering how long Richie and Heather were married, perhaps they were both enabling each other all those years.

Whatever the truth is, Heather has every right to keep her situation to herself. There’s still not a definitive confirmation that the man in the 911 tapes really is her doctor, or that Locklear is even seeing a psychiatrist. I just hope she’s okay.

John Mayer has a new interview with Best Life Magazine, in which the 30 year-old singer goes on and on about his thoughts on life and fame, to the point that the author calls him a blowhard several times in the article. For as much as Mayer talks at exhaustive length and about how he’s immune to criticism while focusing on how it bothers him, there is one subject he won’t discuss - his childhood.

At first Mayer says that he thinks about the positive attributes of his future wife “all the time.” He revealed that he’s looking for a “yes” woman who won’t give him any shit or ask for much attention or understanding in return. Maybe he’s asking for a gorgeous woman who’s not a drama queen and who is mellow, but I just don’t like him and can’t help but think he wants a robot barbie.

John Mayer on his future wife

“I think about my wife all the time,” says Mayer. “I kind of obsess on it, and what I want to find is a person who can speak those kinds of magic words. I mean ‘No complaints’ is a great way to live. Also, I want a woman who doesn’t hear ‘How are you?’ as ‘I would like you to come up with something dramatic now that will allow me to sit in front of you and give you more attention than I would have if you had just said ‘No complaints.’ When I find the person I can relate to on that level and who is also a pinup and who also says ‘Can I please take pictures of your ass?’ then I am going to get married to her. That I can promise you.”

[From Best Life Online]

Mayer revealed that he’s worried, though, that his bad reputation, twisted and embellished by the tabloids, will precede him and keep him from landing that sweet perfect woman who will never ask him to deal with any shit whatsoever:

John Mayer on not being able to land his soul mate due to the tabloids

“My fear,” he says, “is that I go up to the girl of my dreams and say, ‘I’m sorry, but I’ve got to say hello to you,’ and she slides the stool back and gets up and walks away, saying, ‘Not for me, Bub. I don’t want anything to do with you.’ And she says that because of something in my past. I mean, I know how to be a celebrity. I know how to be a guy on the street. I know how to roll with the punches. I know how to do the whole thing. And my past is actually pretty sterling. But when I think about my wife, I worry. I worry about what she thinks when she reads about me in US Weekly. It’s all vapor, nothing, ether. But I worry about it. I worry about what she thinks.”

Mayer said that his personal life is not who he dates or what he does, but that it’s “what happens in my heart and my head.” and adds that “nobody knows what’s going on in my head.” From the length and content of this interview, I would beg to differ.

Interviewer wishes Mayer would shut up
The author is not kind in his assessment of Mayer, and gives the same criticism of his overlong interview that I’ve given of his writing, calling him “a great big overstuffed load of verbiage.” Mayer admits “I’ve always been verbose,” to which the author writes “with that admission, you’d think he might slow down a little. But then off he goes again, full-steam ahead.”

John then talks about how the media circus over his relationship with Jessica Simpson gave him headaches and describes it as this horrible experience.

John talks about Jessica Simpson media circus

“Let me bring you into the mind-set now,” he says. “When you take two people who are trying to get together and relate, that’s already kind of a cluster f–k. But then, with us, there was this whole looming threat. And at a certain point, I got so many tension headaches just from magazine covers. Real tension headaches, from the mention of my name with someone else’s name and how people felt about that. Literal physiological responses where I was like, Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. I thought to myself, Are you sure you want to do this? And what I said to myself was, You know what? There are times in your life when there is nobody to confer with but yourself. And you know what? This is my life, and this is a person I want to spend more time with, and I’m not going to let that other vapor get in the way. And I’ll defend that decision till the end.” He pauses, then marches on. “I also want to say about Jessica that I don’t want to talk about her or my experience with her as a dark cloud or something tumorous or cancerous. That’s all perception. It was very comfortable and very soothing. I never went, Gee, I sure would like two or three days away from this.”

Interviewer wishes he would shut up again

It’s interesting the way he spills this last bunch of words. No one here has mentioned cancer or tumors, nothing even close. On the contrary, his time with Simpson seems to have been good for him. But up come these ugly thoughts and images, ushered forth for no apparent reason. It’s as if he doesn’t know when to put a sock in it, and you have to wonder where it comes from, that uncontrollable urge to talk, come hell or high water.

The rest of the interview is more of Mayer masturbating with words, telling us he keeps things private while exposing his every half-baked thought.

When asked about his childhood in tony Fairfield, Connecticut, he doesn’t say much, except that “I think it’s for me in my life a really good idea to close off certain parts of my past.” The author reveals that Mayer’s parents were so concerned about the way he shut out the world in favor of mastering his guitar that they brought him to two psychologists. It’s probably a good thing for Mayer’s career that they couldn’t convince him to give it up, but he could surely benefit from some therapy.

Then Mayer gets to the crux of the matter - that he was still scared of the world when he made it big and that it wasn’t until his relationship with Jessica Simpson that he really decided to get out there. He said he suffered from terrible acne up until a few years ago and that affected his self esteem. It wasn’t until he dealt with everything that went along with dating a celebrity that he realized he had it in him to be one.

Mayer on going from being afraid to talking too much to the press

“I’d been a famous touring musician who had also been a shut-in for a really long time, which was weird,” he says. “But I’d had it really, really good. I had hit song, hit song, hit song. ‘Did you hear about this kid?’ And I’m like, Look at my respect. Look how credible my artistry is. I’m really perfect. I’m really doing it. It’s aces. And you get addicted to cultivating that thing and making it perfect. I’m telling you, man, I’m not f–king with you. But it stopped being perfect the day I said to myself, Wow, my heart is involved in this. The one thing I’d never been in my life is a person without a guitar. I used to be really frightened that if I stopped, it would leave me. But I had to evolve. If I wanted to see Jessica more, I had to grow up. And that’s the day that I grew up. A lot of people say it’s the day I grew down. Too bad. It’s the day I grew up.”

And here’s the part that everyone is quoting today - Mayer said he still suffers from anxiety and keeps Xanax in his pocket at all times. If you got this far, congratulations. I had a hard time reading that whole damn interview and this is my job.

Mayer says he takes Xanax for anxiety

In his early twenties, however, some­thing shifted inside that private little self-created world of his. He won’t say exactly what happened, only that on one specific day, he realized that “you can create dark neighborhoods in your mind as easily as you can create rural wonderlands. And the day I realized that was one of the worst days of my life. It sent me on quite a spin. I went on a bender. An anxiety bender.” Which is why he keeps Xanax in his pocket even now: “Because there are these incidental kinds of loopholes in my brain, where the wires can cross for a second and the hard drive crashes.”

It sounds like Mayer just decided one day to let all those racing thoughts out and that’s why his blog posts and interviews come across as a stream of consciousness. He’s using the press as a therapist, and I guess it’s better than being a shut-in. Maybe he should figure out a way to get out more while not letting everyone be privy to all his conflicting thoughts about life and fame. He doesn’t seem like as much of a dick to me after reading this, he’s certainly self-absorbed and self-important, but it comes off like more of defense mechanism. He really needs to figure things out in his life. Mayer seems to be doing ok compared to a lot of celebrities, but maybe he should learn to parse what comes out of his mouth and save all the soul-searching for his therapist’s couch.

Thanks to Best Life Online for these pictures and the quoted parts of the interview.

A judge has ruled that Jamie Spears’ conservatorship over his daughter, Britney, will be in effect for another four months, until July 31. The conservatorship can potentially be lifted before that time if Britney shows more progress. By most accounts she is doing well under her father’s guardianship. She has had multiple visits with her two toddler sons, something that may not have been possible if her father hadn’t stepped in to help.

Britney is also teaching dance classes to children at Millenium Dance Studio. Yesterday People had a cute story from one of her little students. A five-year-old girl in her class said “I like Britney. Today, first we were dancing slow, and then faster and faster … Then we did the fish-move and lots of other fun things.” The girl’s mom told People that Britney has inspired her daughter and that she was “amazing… with the kids.” What’s more is that Britney even gave a gift to the girl, a picture of Tinkerbell.

Nefarious character Sam Lutfi has vowed to fight the restraining order against him when it runs out on March 17 and vows to put Britney on the witness stand to attest how he was “helping” her. There are countless witnesses who can testify how he manipulated, controlled and verbally abused Britney. He may even be partially accountable for the way that she lost visitation rights with her boys. Yesterday we reported a story from In Touch in which Britney’s former assistant talked about how Sam tried to get to Britney through her, asking her to meet him at a Starbucks under the guise of having “incriminating evidence” against the star, which he was never able to produce. Sam had yet to meet Britney at that time. Britney’s one-time assistant was later shocked to see a picture of Sam with Britney, calling him a “creep” and “stalkerish.”

According to a source quoted in People, Britney is currently happy under her father’s care. She’s certainly doing better now, and she must appreciate being able to spend so much time with her boys.

Here is Britney out shopping yesterday, thanks to Splash and WENN. She does look pregnant from some angles, but that could just be a little weight gain. The National Enquirer is set to report that she aborted Adnan’s baby. We’ll have to see if they have any insider information or other evidence or if they’re just widely speculating.

Is Lily Allen being treated for depression? While she hasn’t been hospitalized, the British tabloids are full of the news that Lily is seeing a psychologist, which I hardly think is a shock. The girl had a miscarriage, split with her boyfriend and her TV show isn’t getting a warm reception. It’s good and healthy to see a psychologist when you’re feeling upset. She has reportedly been having treatment in a private residential clinic.

According to today’s (March 5) edition (of The Sun), the singer is receiving treatment following her recent miscarriage and split from boyfriend Ed Simons of The Chemical Brothers.

Despite being admitted to the clinic, Allen is apparently allowed out to film her BBC TV show, ‘Lily Allen And Friends’, and to see friends.

The newspaper quotes an anonymous friend of Allen’s as saying: “She is responding really well to treatment and is pleased that she is being allowed out to film her TV show and to keep in touch with her friends supporting her.”

NME

While The Sun newspaper isn’t always the most reliable source, Lily has also pulled out of the Isle of Wight festival, the official reason for this is because she is behind in the production of her album. The promoter of the festival, Paul Giddings, told BBC radio that this wasn’t an acceptable excuse, but he won’t be suing Lily. He also won’t be replacing her, but will be making the festival more environmentally friendly. He seemed really stroppy about Lily pulling out, and I had the impression that the festival was really soon. It’s not until June, she’s given plenty of notice to withdraw her place in the line up, and I think his attitude is fairly unsympathetic given that he admits to reading the tabloids. Particularly this statement, where he alludes to Amy Winehouse, saying “Unfortunately this country has developed some great new girl singer songwriters, but they seem to be having a few problems don’t they?” Not all of the female musicians in Britain have emotional issues, okay?

Lily recently told Glamour magazine that she was finding it hard to stay clean as her friends all like to party.

She added to Britain’s Glamour magazine: “I’ve been sad and quite lonely recently because if you’re young, living in London and working in this industry, unless you drink and take a lot of drugs, there’s not much to do.

“I’ve been sitting on my own watching TV. It’s boring to go out if everyone else if taking cocaine and shouting at me.”

New Zealand Herald

At first I thought that this was stupid, just get some new friends that aren’t enablers, but it seems that the British party scene and cocaine go hand-in-hand, enough so that the United Nations have released a report on the issue.

The price of cocaine has fallen to a record low as a United Nations report says that celebrity users have made the drug socially acceptable.

Police say privately that cocaine is becoming as acceptable in middle-class Britain as cannabis was a generation ago and that they are losing their battle against the drug.

The UN drug control agency’s annual report, published today, puts the blame at the door of celebrity culture and accuses the police of turning a blind eye to the rich and famous who misuse the drug.

The Times

I must be such an innocent – I had absolutely no idea that cocaine was so easy to come by. The UN describes it as the “cocaine culture” so perhaps it is more the circles you move in.

Note by Celebitchy: Lily Allen is shown on 3/4/08 discovering that her car window was smashed. She wrote about the incident on her myspace afterwards, and said that “it was one of the many paparazzi who were following us who did it,” and that “i want people to know that it was totally their fault and that the whole situation has angered and upset me.”

Britney Spears got a house call from two mental health professionals on Saturday – but not for the traditional hostage-taking. According to E! and OK magazine, both the “court-appointed psychiatric evaluator” and UCLA Medical Center doctor showed up around two in the afternoon for some sort of evaluation, likely having to do with her child custody case. Though it could also be regarding her conservatorship… Brit’s got so many legal issues, it’s not always possible to determine what psych professional goes with which case. Probably sensing that they had a better chance of actually seeing Brit if they came to her instead of having her come to them, the two mental health professionals reportedly spent about two hours inside of Brit’s house before they left.

A source tells E! News that Spears’ bodyguard escorted the doctors from the Westwood-based medical center to her home in the posh, gated community of Summit Circle at approximately 2 p.m. They subsequently met with her for two hours before departing around 4 p.m.

No word on the nature of the checkup. However Mark Vincent Kaplan, the attorney for the popster’s ex-hubby Kevin Federline, told E! News last week that as part of her agreement to retain visitation rights with her kids, Spears is obligated to undergo “custody evaluation” by medical experts among other requirements.

[From E! News]

E! also notes that Britney has seen Sean Preston and Jayden James three times since she was awarded supervised visitation last week. Three times in a week has got to be some sort of record for Britney. After the court visit, Britney was off to her second home, the Millennium Dance Complex, where she taught another dance class. Brit has been really diligent with her classes, which is really impressive. There’s also no photographers there, and yet she’s keeping it up, which I think speaks pretty well of her. Robert Baker, who owns Millennium, said that the class has a different batch of kids each time, so that everyone gets a turn. Baker says Britney plays different dance games with the kids.

…”One is called Freeze,” he explains. “Everyone creates a circle and does a little dance step. Whoever gets off step has to stand in the circle. One time recently, she got off step but she didn’t want to get into the circle, saying, ‘Oh no, you guys! I’m not getting in the circle!’” But with the students shouting back, “You got off step! You have to get in!” the pop star didn’t have much of a choice. “The kids kind of revolted,” says Robert. “It was very cute. And, of course she did it, and the kids went crazy laughing.”

These lessons appear to be having a therapeutic effect on the mother of two. “Seeing her with these children, and then having these regular visits with her boys,” Robert explains. “It’s connecting the dots. I’m seeing a return to the old, loving Britney from before. She’s really improving.”

[From OK!]

That’s a cute story. Who the hell knows if it’s true or if it’s just some good press – but Britney could use some good press, so let’s go with it. Considering how much energy she’s put into acting out, whatever her motivation may be for teaching the classes, it’s a big improvement. It seems pretty clear that Britney’s father Jamie has been a good influence on her. The two have historically had a stormy relationship, but if nothing else, it seems pretty clear that he’s got Britney’s best interests at heart and is not at all self- serving. He’s been working as a chef for several years, and still holds the job. In the last month, Britney’s had a lot of ups and downs, but she’s regained limited supervised visitation with her kids, has actually shown up for appointments, and is doing something nice for others. All those changes speak well of her, and might be indications that she’s slowly getting better.

Here’s Britney on her way to Millennium Dance Studio on Friday. There’s a lot of speculation that’s she’s pregnant, and she’s certainly showing some visible tummy here. It certainly doesn’t look that bad from a slightly different angle. Let’s hope it’s just because she’s no longer using whatever substance she used to take to lose weight. Images thanks to Splash.

Britney Spears made a bizarre request at an exclusive boutique, asking that they recreate a dress from a different designer and have it ready by that evening. She got turned down, of course, but ended up with the consolation prize of a yellow wig that one of the mannequins was wearing:

She flummoxed staff at the Betsey Johnson on Melrose Ave. this month by turning up with a Dolce & Gabbana dress she wanted the store to copy - in all white - to be ready by that evening.

According to a witness, “the staff explained that they didn’t have a dressmaker on call who could do it in time.” Never mind that the frock she wanted copied wasn’t even their label.

“The only thing she wanted to buy in the store was the yellow wig on a mannequin in the window,” laughs the source. “The manager eventually agreed to offer it to her for $100.”

[From The NY Daily News]

This isn’t the first time that Britney has baffled employees at a designer boutique. This week’s National Enquirer reports that she went into top bridal designer Monique Lhuillier’s shop and said she was looking for a wedding gown.

Allowed to go on the Feb 16 shopping spree by her dad, the singer scouted Monique Lhuillier boutique for bridal attire. Britney told a clerk she dreams of getting married again in a big wedding - and wants a dress with a long train. Her assistant humored her, acting as if she was taking down info. The singer settled for a nice, brown dress, but instructed the sale staff to contact her when they receive the latest gowns.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, March 3, 2008]

I can see Britney just buying a wedding dress and wearing it out for attention. It would be a smarter ploy than trying to flash the paps for the tenth time.

In related Britney news, the LAPD has said they’re considering investigating whether she was drugged against her knowledge:

Police Capt. Kyle Jackon said in a statement Wednesday that the allegations “are being considered” by the Robbery-Homicide unit to determine if laws have been violated.

[From AP]

This is similar to a story reported by TMZ a little over a week ago saying that the investigation into Sam Lutfi’s drugging of Britney was “well underway” and that it has “been assigned to Robbery Homicide.” A police spokesperson denied that there was an investigation at that time.

Britney is shown out shopping on 2/26/08.

Actress Delta Burke, who has long been an advocate for talking about mental health issues, spoke with Entertainment Tonight about her recent hospitalization in a psych ward. It was widely reported that Delta was hospitalized for her hoarding, and while that played a large part in her struggle, it appears that her biggest worry was that her depression had gotten out of control. Delta says that before she was hospitalized, she couldn’t get out of bed for over two weeks.

Burke, 51, says she had been on five medications to treat her lifelong battle with depression when all of them stopped working. So she went to a clinic “to get my meds straightened out and to get properly diagnosed,” she says, adding that her meds have since been cut back to two and she has been put on a diabetic diet.

Burke says she has come a long way since her Designing Women days when her depression severely escalated. One night, she recalls, she was parked in a car on top of a hill with a gun beside her and a bottle of Xanax. She was upset over what a tabloid had written about her. “I just kept taking Xanax and hoping the pain would stop,” she tells ET. “I got really sleepy and decided to go for a ride. I needed a Diet Coke really bad. I called up [husband Gerald McRaney]. I didn’t know where I was but he found me.”

Burke says she continues to speak out about her depression — “something that I deal with and millions of Americans deal with” — “to remove the stigma. “I will always fight and everyone out there who battles this should always fight,” she adds.

[From Us Weekly]

Delta also reported that her hoarding had gotten out out of hand. She was addicted to QVC and eBay. I think eBay is becoming a much more common addiction than people realize. Delta’s addiction had led to her having to rent out 27 storage units in New Orleans, which she filled with her belongings. As part of her recovery, Delta’s sister is helping her sort through the items. She’s doing her best to sell and donate as much as she can. Hoarding is an interesting, and not often talked about disease. We discussed it in detail in relation to Delta’s hospitalization here. I can imagine that when you’re depressed, thinking of the extreme clutter and mess really could push you over the edge and make it impossible to even get out of bed and deal with it all. Congratulations to Delta not just for dealing with her issues, but for being unashamed and unafraid to talk about them.

Many of us thought that Britney’s ever-present “friend”/self-proclaimed manager, Sam Lutfi, was bad news, especially when the news got out last week that he’s had up to three restraining orders against him and that he harassed, controlled, and threatened a friend with blackmail and violence against his family. Now that Britney’s mother’s statement about how she witnessed Lutfi drugging, emotionally abusing, and bragging about how he controlled her daughter has been released, people realize how much of a choke hold he had over her. People are also re-evaluating Britney’s behavior over the past few months.

It came out in Lynn’s statement that Lutfi had disabled Britney’s many cars and phones, and that he had the security guard, paparazzi, and Britney’s business manager answering to him. He also apparently even won over her divorce attorneys, which would explain why she hired someone else to represent her at the hearing for guardianship of her estate.

Commentor CeeJay on our earlier post about Lynn’s statement mentioned that all this would explain why Britney always stayed in hotels, was seen wandering around outside her house, and drove around aimlessly for hours. Lutfi had moved into Britney’s mansion and she was afraid to return home to that awful situation.

Lynn’s statement also makes it clear why Britney might be compelled to buy so many new cars and even a new home. When Lutfi disabled one of her vehicles, she simply bought a new one. It was also likely that she was trying to get a house where he couldn’t control her.

Britney didn’t seem coherent when her mother saw her the night before she was hospitalized, but she was aware of one thing. She specifically asked her mom to switch glasses with her when Lutfi poured the wine, which suggests that she knew that he was drugging her by slipping pills in her food and drink. He even bragged to Britney’s mom that he would mash up pills and mix them into her food.

While Britney may have been too drugged out to make sound decisions, she was letting us know in her own way that things were unbearable at home and that she could not return there. This woman wasn’t making the most sound or mature decisions on her own, and was thought to be showing signs of bipolar disorder when she shaved her head early last year. She seemed incapable of caring for her children, and lost custody of her two toddlers in October of last year, presumably right before she met Lutfi, and was only allowed supervised visits. She was thought to be at risk for suicide at that time. Lutfi stepped in and took over for an already-troubled Britney, and she was poisoned, manipulated and made a prisoner in her own home, ultimately losing visitation rights with her children.

Update: Thanks to reader Exyank for noting that Lutfi has been in Britney’s life much longer than the restraining order states, and that he has known her since late 2006/early 2007. A controlling, abusive relationship with Lutfi could potentially explain how Britney really lost it after breaking up with K-Fed and her brief friendship with Paris Hilton afterwards.

Britney and one of her boys are shown in the header in October, 2007. She is shown below with Sam in December.

There was more news in the ongoing Britney saga this weekend. She remains in the psych ward at UCLA Medical Center, where the new psychiatrist who has been treating her supposed bipolar disorder practices. Britney’s stay has been extended for 14 days, and it is thought that it is on the recommendation of her doctor and is against her will. People reports that she is in a padded room and that she is allowed to keep her own clothing and toiletries and can take cigarette breaks outside. She may make phone calls, but only from a pay phone. LA Rag Mag has some supposed details from inside the psych ward, presumably from a patient or hospital worker, who claims that she is calling herself “Jack Triple X 59,” after having asked people to call her “Amanda.” It could be true, or it could be an anonymous tipster pulling everyone’s leg.

On Friday some valuables were noticed missing from Britney’s mansion. The theft apparently occurred after her hospitalization Thursday morning, and everyone is pointing fingers at Sam Lutfi, the megalomaniac self-appointed manager who has now been shut out of the singer’s life by a restraining order. Britney’s parents called the cops and filed a report of the missing items, which are described as “valuable possessions” by US Weekly. Lutfi has never hesitated to discuss his relationship with Britney to the press, and fellow blog Bitten and Bound has some inside information from a “friend” of Lutfi’s, who claims that he bragged about his power over her and tried to demonstrate that she was helpless without him.

Lutfi might still weasel his way back into Britney’s life despite the restraining order. Britney’s divorce lawyers, who are said to be aligned with Lutfi, are expected to fight her father’s legal control of her estate and medical affairs. TMZ reports that her lawyers will request “that a different conservator be appointed” when they go to court today, but that the person has not yet been decided on. Fingers crossed that it’s not Lutfi - or maybe that would be a good thing. A judge isn’t likely to give Lutfi control over Britney’s affairs. Part of me hopes that Britney with stay in the hospital with her father making the decisions and learning to live with the situation while gaining control of her health. Since she fights everything tooth and nail and seems to hate her dad, maybe an impartial legal team should be running things for her. That way she might have less animosity towards the treatment and day to day help she so badly needs.

Britney is shown in better times at the Scandinavia Style Mansion on 12/2/07, just two months ago. Thanks to PRPhotos.

We have an interview with Terri Cheney, author of Manic: A Memoir, which tells the harrowing story of her struggle with bipolar disorder. Ms. Cheny is a former Hollywood entertainment and intellectual property lawyer who represented high-profile clients such as Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones. She suffered bipolar disorder for years, and can understand Britney’s behavior and see the parallels to her own battle with mental illness. She provides us with her unique insight in this exclusive interview.

Ms. Cheney speaks candidly of her feelings of invulnerability at the height of her illness and the way she coped with the occasional pang of guilt. We should feel compassion for Britney, but hold her to the same standards as the rest of society, she maintains. As for Britney’s chances at recovery, Ms. Cheney is an example of how bipolar sufferers can turn their lives around with the help of professionals, but she says it has to happen from within first.

As for what Britney is feeling right now, I know a lot from my own experience. Even though I was a well-educated attorney, when I was at the height of mania, I didn’t have a clue what was going on with me. I refused to listen to what anyone around me was saying, because I felt completely invulnerable - very similar to how Britney has shut out her family and friends. Only now and then, I’d be forced to confront the consequences of my erratic behavior. Then I’d feel a twinge of terror, realizing that I was at the mercy of forces I couldn’t control. But that moment of awareness would quickly pass, and in a heartbeat I’d feel invulnerable again.

2) Is it fair for us to impose our standards of “normal behavior” on someone suffering from severe bipolar disorder, if that is indeed what is going on with Britney?

I don’t think Britney is entitled to any special exemptions from social convention, just because she is a celebrity who may be suffering from a mental disorder. What she does deserve, however, is our enlightened compassion. Her conduct may not merit our sympathy, but her illness does.

3) What is the difference between histrionic personality disorder and bipolar disorder and how do we know Britney has one and not the other or both?

Personality disorders involve pervasive patterns of behavior and symptoms, which psychiatrists have grouped into various classifications. “Histrionic personality disorder” is characterized by overly dramatic behavior and exhibitionism, excessive attention-seeking, hypersexuality, etc.

Bipolar disorder, however, is a chemical imbalance in the neurotransmitters required for healthy functioning of the brain. It is first and foremost a physical disease.

It is certainly possible for a person to have a personality disorder along with bipolar disorder. Only a thorough psychiatric evaluation can determine whether Britney has one, or both - and, to my knowledge, she has yet to undergo such an evaluation.

4) Is there any chance for Britney to get better and what does she need to do to start making that change?

I think once Britney gets the help she needs, she has every chance in the world of finding her way back to sanity. As I described in my book “Manic,” I suffered severely from bipolar disorder for many years — terrible episodes of dangerous mania, followed by crushing bouts of depression. For me, medication made all the difference. It was the foundation on which my recovery was built. Individual and group therapy have also been very helpful.

The critical step for anyone who may be suffering from bipolar disorder, especially someone as out of control as Britney, is to find a good doctor. With Britney’s resources, she obviously has access to the best medical care in the world. I only hope she finds a moment of clarity to say, “I need help.” Change can’t happen without her cooperation.

Ms. Cheney’s book, Manic: A Memoir, is available on Amazon.com. You can learn more about her and the book on her website, TerriCheney.com.