Do Americans Disregard Mental Illness?

With all of the recent publicity surrounding Britney Spears many Americans are too busy gossiping and reading tabloids to notice the real issue at hand here: Britney Spears is mentally ill and is in need of a serious psychological evaluation.

Beneath the celebrity and money there is a human being in pain and crying out for help. It's this help that Britney needs so desperately that somehow just doesn't get to her despite the fact that she is one of the most famous people in the world. How does someone go from being so loved to cast out when in their darkest hour of need?

Bipolar disorder, or manic depressive illness, is hallmarked by the intense mood swings and erratic behavior similar to Britney Spears recent behaviors. If left untreated substance abuse will likely increase and the possibility of suicide will also significantly increase. Of course only a professional can determine whether or not Britney is Bipolar, but a psychological assessment is now imperative.

People tend to pass judgments and disgrace her without giving any credence to the fact that she is still very young and obviously very ill. It's as though her mental illness doesn't exist. Newscasts will advertise Britney's "wild behavior" or "crazy partying" but will never refer to her as being "mentally ill" or "sick". It is obvious to anyone that Britney's irrational behavior is nothing like those of fellow celebrity party girls such as Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton. Britney is far more disturbed and sinking deeper with each passing day.

Perhaps it is not that Americans completely disregard mental illness but simply place it beneath the importance of getting their celebrity fix. It is a state of affairs when people seem to actually enjoy the downfall of other human beings. Americans seem to take pleasure in others tragedies while using the situations to make themselves feel good. What are we teaching are youth? Even the judge who continues to send Britney to rehabilitation fails to order proper and extensive psychological testing. Her own parents don't seem to care - instead of calling a real professional to help Britney they asked celebrity psychologist Dr. Phil to pay her a visit. It seems that America's star is now left an orphan with a million stepparents all turning their backs on her.

Don't get me wrong, I am not a fan of Britney Spears. I don't like her music and I find her entire image objectifying and degrading. I am however, a fellow human being who sees nothing more than a sad and lonely little girl in need of some real friends. I'm not the type of person that gets star struck and I'm certainly not one for celebrity gossip, yet my inherent characteristics as a human being are causing me to find myself becoming increasingly upset over this situation. Each news flash and front page article I see makes me more and more disgusted with the evolution of our society. Whether you care for celebrity gossip or not, there is a greater problem here. Our morals as a society have significantly took a turn for the worse and they continue to become more and more outrageous with time.

Somehow our society seemed to have lost its morals. There have always been celebrities throughout time that have been erratic, crazy, or on drugs but it was somewhat kept out of the public eye. Today the media has no scruples whatsoever and will stop at nothing to be on top of the pile. No one cares who gets hurt or maybe even killed along the way. Why should they care when everyone watching is loving it?

If Britney Spears continues to run off her track alone and commits suicide, I propose that the media should be charged with manslaughter with the American public as an accomplice. Of course if that were to happen many would be left dumbfounded and struggling to find their self-esteem someplace other than in the mishaps of others. Besides, I'm starting to believe that no one would be left to be the jury and what would we do with nobody covering the case publicly? Gasp!