The legal criteria for conservatorship are very strict - conservatorship means taking away a person's legal right to make important decisions, and nobody can be put under conservatorship unless they are permanently mentally incapacitated, will never be able to make decisions. Most people under conservatorship have advanced dementia, serious brain injuries, serious developmental delay, intractable schizophrenia, etc. Spears has bipolar disorder (she talked about it in court), and people with bipolar disorder do NOT qualify for conservatorship, as they are able to make rational decisions part of the time.
So a lot of the Free Britney people were nitwits who got behind a cause without understanding it, but the brighter ones were pointing out if she was too mentally disabled to be able to make any decisions, why was she working steadily? So really, those were the people who had it right, Spears was able to hold rational discussions with the judge in court, which was proof in itself that she wasn't disabled enough to qualify for conservatorship.
And no, I'm not one of the Free Britney people, I'm just the person explaining the legal situation. The sad truth seems to be that Spears falls into the gap between people who are mentally ill but functional enough to care for themselves, and people who are mentally ill... but who aren't functional enough to care for themselves, but who aren't disabled enough to qualify for conservatorship. There are no good options for such people, not under US law.
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emori (3360)
a year ago
Nobody knows Britney diagnosis and how many cases she has. Only her family, doctors, conservatorship people and court.
I dont think that it is some bi polar disorder only. She is way more lost then that. Selena has bi polar and is not acting crazy like Britney. I feel like at this point they should just reveal her diagnosis like they did with Bruce Willis. So people would understand and stop speculating.
8 years children can wok steadily, sing and shoot movie, but they cant take of themselves on their own and take care of their finances. Britney was barely able to work when her managers took care of everything and she just had to learn few moves and open her mouth to playback. When they put her on X Factor it was very obvious she cant work with her mind and is not all there at all. Its looked like she was kinda okeish first few years but then her illness progressed to the point she was not able to work at all.
They probably shouldnt have made her work. But she was living A-list life and to continue that lifestyle - she needed to make more money. Otherwise money would fly fast. I actually wonder what are her finances now, after she has not been working but flies private jets all the time. Those are expensive. She really could go broke in few years living A-list life and not working. And I dont think she was forced to work. She wanted it and agreed. When she said "no" and refused to work - no one forced her.
He problem is that she was somehow sane when she was forced to take medication. When no one forces crazies to do that - they stop. And we see result. She is completely lost and just lives inside her own insanity with no one to help. And when she will overdose - press and freebritney lunatics will be the first to scream: "Where is her family, why didnt they do anything.... ", not admitting their own guilt.
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Otter (24464)
a year ago
It is futile for people like us to debate over Britney's medical diagnoses, we don't know, it's really none of our business, and it's illegal for anyone to give us solid information. Then there's also the fact that psychiatric diagnoses are notoriously fuzzy, medical insurance companies insist on specific diagnoses and codes, but the truth is that most serious mental illness is either on "a spectrum" or has tons of overlap with co-morbidities, so diagnoses can change over time even though the person hasn't.
But if Spears could work, and hold a coherent conversation with a judge, I am inclined to believe that she really doesn't fit the US legal standards for a person who can be put under conservatorship. And that means that her fate is out of our hands and out of her family's hands, and for good or ill she's master of her fate and captain of her soul. It sure looks like she's used her freedom to go off her meds, and we can only hope that the people she has around her will keep her safe, and that she'll learn from this episode the next time she's thinking about going off her meds.
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