You know, Britney Spears really is sick, and the public can’t get enough of the reality meltdown. It’s kind of like watching a human sacrifice. But it’s a great opportunity for an opportunist.
Although Dr. Phil — whose full name is Phillip McGraw — announced Monday that he is shelving plans for a show on Spears’ latest breakdown, some in the mental health community say just showing up at her hospital room last week was going too far.
“It’s true people sometimes need to be placed under involuntary mental health treatment because they can’t take care of themselves,” veteran psychiatrist Dr. Jeffrey Sugar said of the 26-year-old Spears. “But there’s a difference between being detained involuntarily for psychological treatment and being forced to endure Dr. Phil involuntarily.”
Well, they used to use ice baths and insulin shock, and they still zap patients with electricity. Maybe if the sight of Dr. Phil had caused a seizure then Britney would be on the road to recovery now. I agree with Dr. Sugar that everyone should just leave the girl alone. She’s really in trouble, this is not a performance. And for that matter, her little sister really is a baby expecting a baby. Have mercy, fans, let the family work it out themselves.
Kmareka.com 
Yeah, I wish they’d leave the girl alone. My heart actually first went out to her when she shaved her head, as that’s something I’ve done several times myself when I’ve been in crisis—it’s a way to sort of externalize what’s going on in my head, I guess—and from experience with fellow disordered folk, it isn’t an urge unique to me; I strongly suspected then that she was in psychiatric distress and needed something more than the all-too-familiar whirlwind celebrity rehab stint.
As someone who’s done time on the ward, I’m also really offended at the lurid media treatment of her hospitalization—i.e., People.com’s headline about Britney’s being on “mental lockdown!” It only goes to perpetuate the cycle wherein people who are hospitalized for physical issues receive sympathy and support, while psychiatric patients continue to be stigmatized, with the public perception of the mental hospital arrested in time, say around 1954.
I wish my closest friends had visited me while I was in the clink, not only because I needed the support but because it would have been an opportunity for them to see the hospital setting and normalize the concept of my commitment in their own minds, making it less weird for all of us once I was released. Perpetuation of the kind of stereotypes engendered by “mental lockdown!” headlines only makes it harder for visitation and normalization to take place where many of us need it most.
thank you, teresa. at first unitarian the congregation organizes summer services. one of the best i ever attended was when a group from the church who described themselves as mental health consumers talked about what it was like to live with mental illness. it really opened my mind to how difficult and chronic it can be to try to live and work with a condition that can affect your mood and judgement. it undid a lot of stereotypes and misconceptions i had. i have always appreciated the people who shared something so personal, and i’m glad they’re a part of our church.