Yes. In an article entitled "Is Britney Spears Bipolar?" US Magazine "reports" the following:
From stripping down to her skivvies for a July 18 dip in the Pacific to melting down at a July 19 photo shoot for OK! Magazine, Britney Spears could hardly be classified as stable. What could be plaguing the pop tart?
“Her erratic behavior has moved into bipolar disorder,” surmises psychologist Dr. Robert Butterworth, who has not treated Spears, 25. “Your energy level and emotions alternate between highs and lows, and that seems to have happened here.”
Psychologist Robi Ludwig, who also hasn’t treated her, agrees – to a point. “It seems that Britney has a mood disorder,” she says, acknowledging that the singer’s behavior is “self-destructive, erratic and dramatic,” which could also be symptomatic of drug and alcohol abuse. She added: "She strikes me as someone going through a delayed adolescence."
http://www.usmagazine.com/britney_spears_31
3 comments:
One has to question the ethics of a mental health professional who is willing to diagnosis an individual that they have never met, who is willing to do this publicly and whose actions are likely to cause as much harm to the individual than good.
I'm torn on this one: people's use of "bi-polar" to describe common highs and lows (in the media, etc.) bugs me because many of the folks described don't have the "true" disorder. (?) On the other hand, when more people more the time are diagnosed more freely and publicly, doesn't it do away with some part of the stigma? Doesn't it make people see too how these terms can be tossed about pretty quickly and land on just about anyone? I'm of two minds on this - lucy
A thought popped into my head as I read the comment from Jason Blair. When these types of things hit the press, the danger is that people who don't have anyone in their lives with bipolar may end up believing that the very public shenanigans of Britney Spears are true 'bipolar' behaviors. I worry about things like this. I'm very proud of the way I have handled my bipolar - I have a good career, a stable loving family, and great friends. I am managing. But would I ever tell anyone at work about my mental illness? Absolutely not. It's interesting. Consider this, for example: People who are homophobic raise an eyebrow at gay people (that's another issue - I am a staunch supporter of gay rights, gay marriage, etc. Don't get me started). But often they don't believe that someone's homosexuality makes them 'incompetent', a 'loose cannon', 'unstable' or 'dangerous'. I worked at a place where a coworker made it public he had bipolar disorder. He was never treated the same way again. He was called all of the names above and more - despite the fact that he had won professional awards, was promoted several times within the company, and was one of the smartest most wonderful employees we had. I hated watching that happen. I hope it never happens to me.
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