Weighing in on Britney Spears - Mental Illness and a Life Out of Control

I normally do not pay much attention to the celebrity gossip and mayhem that seems to have seeped into the daily news. However, I felt it time to weigh in on the whole Britney situation. I am so appalled at how she has been hounded and treated, especially recently. Oh sure, she is a celebrity so all bets are off when it comes to privacy and courtesy. This brings to mind the tragedy that unfolded for Princess Diana, which ended in her death. I really believe the paparazzi will not be satisfied till they have sufficiently driven this young distraught woman to extreme actions, including death. How sad is that, that our society is so intrusive that they literally get-off with each new account of Britney's irrational behavior?

Personally, how come no one has even suggested that this young woman was suffering from Post Partum Depression? Let's analyze her situation for a minute or two:

Was she not a teen icon and hot commodity from at a very young age?

Was she not considered a hottie with a slamming body for most of her young life?

Was there not a time when every radio station and video channel showcased her music almost non-stop?

Was she not extremely successful at one time?

So, what happened to this young girl that had so much potential?

She probably did not have the best parental guidance in her life as her career took off. In the industry she was in and at the age she began it, it is necessary to have that firm parental foundation to keep the child star well-grounded and protected (and now look at her younger sister). But instead, she was allowed to grow up way to fast, and the seepage of stardom-to-the-brain became her motivation for making bad choices: quickie drunken Vegas marriage to an old friend, and then the subsequent quick to pregnancy and alter with Kevin Federline.

Ah, Kevin Federline every parents dream son-in-law, right? No, it was clear early on that K-Fed was interested in Britney's career, celebrity and money to the point he was even trying to propel his own career off of her stardom. How would you feel if you knew your husband and father of your child was using you? He was like a parasite feeding off of her. Not so good marriage and being pregnant (full of hormones) is definitely not a good combination, and can often help a person's downward spiral and encourage Post Partum Depression and other mental instabilities. Yet, no one seemed to see this coming and no one has suggested this is what was going on with her mental health.

She has baby number 1 and gets to see what pregnancy can do to the body of any woman. She loses her sex appeal, which was part of what made her so successful. Think about it ladies, how do you feel when you pack on a few pounds and have trouble shedding it? What happens when you do not feel good about yourself? Sometimes, the lack of control can cause compulsions that make situations worse: over eating, indulging drugs and alcohol, and overall making bad life choices. But remember, for the every-day-Jane, she does not have her moments sought after by the paparazzi and media. The pressure from that does not help a person change necessarily, but rather, pushes them further and further into themselves.

So next, we hear rumors about the not so good marriage to K-Fed, yet within months, Britney Spears is pregnant again. Her body had very little time to recover from the first pregnancy, she's dealing with a not so great marriage, while trying to learn how to be a mother and parent the child she already has. Talk about stress and depression, just thinking about her life back then is enough to make anyone stressed out and depressed. Remember, she was also trying to keep her own career alive, you know the lucrative career that pays the bills and helps K-Fed stay within the means he has now become accustomed too.

We begin to see irrational behaviors and actions in her parenting skills constantly being photographed and reported. How would you feel if you had a camera pointed at you and people following you all over the place? It would be enough to make any sane person mad, or at least prone to making mistakes. I know, I know, she chose to become a celebrity. Why is it that we expect our celebrities to not be human at the core?

Okay, now there are two babies for her to care for, her body is showing signs of the stresses of back-to-back pregnancies; her marriage is pretty much dissolving daily as the media gives gossip updates almost hourly. Her lucrative career is on hold, while everyone starts scrutinizing her weight, her behavior, and her parenting skills. I happen to think she looked pretty good for having babies back-to-back, and believe me, pregnancy weight is not always the easiest weight for everyone to take off.

Today, we see a young girl with a life so out of control that she has pretty much had her children taken away from her and given over to a man that used her celebrity and drained her emotionally. He, who did not always smell like roses, now looks like the good guy in all of this, while she mentally spirals deeper into turmoil and comes off as the bad guy. She's not bad, she's troubled.

Do I really need to go any further? This young woman had a break-down and yet the paparazzi and media seem to be thrilled by it. Have we become that selfish as a society that we thrill in the suffering of another? Are we not alarmed that the media is sending out the message that having a little extra weight on the body for a woman is completely unattractive and taboo? Is that the message we want women to hear?

Does anyone know what happens to a person that suffers from untreated Post Partum Depression? The condition worsens and brings with it full blown depression as well as other mental psychologically related illnesses. I just wonder if Britney put off seeking help way back because she feared giving the media more to frenzy about. We live in a society where there is still great stigma placed on people that suffer from mental illnesses and that stigma often keeps a person from seeking proper medical attention. Can you imagine how a celebrity, who is suffering from a mental illness, must feel always trying to hide it from everyone?

Mental illness, when untreated and sometimes even when treated, can be debilitating. Yet, Britney tried to hold it together. Unfortunately, when you are sick and not getting proper help, it seeps into every facet of your life: family, parenting, relationships, work, and every common sense choice you make. Also, compulsive behaviors form. People with untreated mental illnesses begin to develop compulsive behaviors that make them feel temporarily better even if the behaviors are self-destructive and negative. Compulsions like: drug and alcohol addiction, sex addiction, spending addiction and more. To outsiders looking in, we see the compulsive behavior has bad choices the person is making and how they are horrible for choosing the behaviors and actions. We generally do not stop to think about what may be motivating the person to choose as they do. They are numbing their mental illness with bad behaviors.

Sure, it is easy for us to pass judgment and expect Britney to go get help, but, she was a celebrity living in a time where everyone knows her business, which then causes trust to be an issue. Who can she trust? Look, Dr. Phil recently tried to offer services and in his next breath used it to benefit his own celebrity. I normally like Dr. Phil, but come on, this girl has been through enough and too many people have capitalized off of her mental illness. It is almost like the paparazzi and the media, and even society is pushing her to the brinks of doing something so severe just so there will be a good story to recount afterwards. Is that what we really want to see headlines that read, "Young and Once Talented Starlit Tragically Dies"?

I think it is time we the people speak up and out. We need to send a clear message to the paparazzi and media that we do not want to hear anymore about Britney Spears and be more encouraging to her. Encourage her to get the help, and that we the people will be waiting anxiously to see and hear from a rejuvenated and healthy Britney Spears. It is really time to let this young woman have the time, space and privacy to take care of her life.