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Britney Spears hospitalised again
Friday, Feb 01, 2008
By Jill Serjeant
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Troubled pop star Britney Spears was in a Los Angeles hospital on psychiatric hold for the second time in a month on Thursday after being taken from her home by ambulance under a police escort.
Spears, 26, whose life has grown increasingly erratic in the past 12 months, is being held for a three-day mental evaluation on the orders of her psychiatrist, her self-styled manager, Sam Lutfi, told celebrity news media.
"She went willingly. It was like something in her heart was telling her she should go. She knew something was wrong," Lutfi told People magazine.
News video showed more than a dozen police motorcycles and squad cars leaving Spears' Los Angeles home shortly after midnight on Thursday and taking her to the UCLA Medical Center.
The hospital declined to confirm Spears was a patient, citing confidentiality.
Road blocks were set up in a vain bid to deter paparazzi who have trailed the former pop phenomenon round the clock as her life has spun out of control.
Spears' estranged mother, Lynne, and her father, Jamie, were pictured leaving the hospital on Thursday along with Lutfi. Asked if her daughter was OK, Lynne Spears told a throng of reporters, "Yes."
Celebrity web site TMZ.com said the pop star's psychiatrist felt Spears was a danger to herself because of reckless driving and a recent deterioration in her behaviour.
BIPOLAR DISORDER?
Friends and family have said they believe the former teen pop phenomenon is suffering from bipolar disorder -- which is characterized by abrupt mood swings -- or other psychiatric problems.
In recent days, the Louisiana native has assumed a British accent and has been photographed sitting in the street in tears clutching her dog, and arguing loudly with friends.
An unnamed source told Us Weekly that Spears had not slept since Saturday and that the "intervention" by her family and psychiatrist had been planned for several days.
Spears' personal life went downhill after she filed for divorce from Kevin Federline in November 2006. She was seen out partying without wearing panties. She shaved her head, attacked paparazzi and spent a month in rehab.
Spears lost custody and visiting rights with her two young sons and was ordered last year to undergo random drug and alcohol tests by the court handling her bitter custody dispute with Federline.
She was hospitalised on January 3 after apparently locking herself in a bathroom in hysterics and refusing to hand back her two sons to representatives of Federline. Spears discharged herself after two days.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness on Thursday pleaded for Spears' privacy during her treatment.
Executive director Michael Fitzpatrick condemned the "media circus and reckless speculation" surrounding the health of the singer. He also criticized the professional ethics of mental health experts who are not directly involved in her diagnosis or treatment but speak to the media about her case.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant, editing by Dan Whitcomb and Mohammad Zargham)
1 comment:
We should not forget that she may be a celebrity but she is also a human being. She has two children.
All of us agree that when drugs are ruining your life you need to make a change. Most addicted people will agree. Britney would likely agree. However, many don’t get help. Why?
As the director of Novus Medical Detox, I would suggest that many people never make it to rehab because they have tried to stop and the withdrawal pain was too great. This is why 95% of the people that try on their own don't make it. They fear the withdrawal more than the problem.
Some people's DNA and metabolism does make them more susceptible to dependence and addiction and either way the withdrawal is painful.
We now have protocols that make it much more comfortable and once off the drugs/alcohol, then they will be thinking more clearly and have a better chance in rehab.
The decision to change their lives must be made for any rehab to work. The confidence that they can stand the pain is often required before the decision to get rehab.
I think that the real problems are the prescription drugs that she is taking in addition to her other use of drugs/alcohol. She needs to get off these as well.
Steve Hayes
http://www.novusdetox.com
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