People Magazine Defends Itself For Diagnosing Britney Spears, But Who Can Blame Them?
An interesting article on CNN talks about a mental health conference where none other than popwreck Britney Spears was the topic of conversation.
At the American Psychoanalytic Association conference last week in New York, a therapist from Chicago, Mark Smaller had this to say about the media’s race to diagnose what might be at the root cause of Britney’s seemingly endless string of problems:
“I’ve been very upset about this,” says Mark Smaller, a psychoanalyst from Chicago who attended last week’s meetings at Manhattan’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. “This idea of making a diagnosis of someone they’ve never met is completely inappropriate, and it gives mental health professionals a bad name.”
Not to mention that it’s medically wrong. Smaller says that to make any real diagnosis, it can take several thorough consultations with a patient at the very least. “Trying to make such a diagnosis based purely on someone’s behavior” — and worse, their behavior as portrayed selectively by the media — “is scientifically impossible,” says Smaller, also director of the Neuropsychoanalysis Foundation.
Mr. Smaller is absolutely right. We in the media have neither the right nor the medical acumen to diagnose a person’s ailments whom we’ve never met, let alone, someone who is portrayed to us through the filter of paparazzi. It’s unfair. But…..
Several of the bigger publications have quoted and (most likely hired) psychiatric consultants to weigh in on what may be contributing to Britney’s unstable persona. Peter Castro, the deputy managing editor at People Magazine commented on the accusation leveled at the media:
“What people need to realize is that we had sources very close to Britney — more than one — telling us that they believed she did indeed suffer from mental illness, and some even used the term bipolar disorder,” says Castro. “So it was only responsible on our part to ask a specialist in this kind of behavior. You had a woman here who was hospitalized. This is the first time we were hearing that hey, all this nutty behavior may really have something to do with mental illness, maybe bipolar disorder.”
Castro makes a very valid argument as well. In some ways, because of this speculation and assertion by those “close” to Britney and now the media, we (at least the writers of this site) have treated Britney with a much more sympathetic point of view than before these arm-chair diagnoses were made. While we certainly were speculating “something” didn’t seem right about Britney, no one (except k, who spelled it out long before People, Star, InStyle etc) were willing to say out loud what many of us were thinking inside: Britney’s mental.
Seriously, let’s just take the mental illness out of the equation for a second and assume Britney is a fully functional and mentally healthy person doing all the bizarre things she’s been doing. If she WEREN’T mentally ill, then the only cause/justification for her behavior would be thus: Britney at her core is a selfish, ego-maniacal, cruel, heartless, narcissistic, uncaring, neglectfully absent mother,fame-at-all-costs driven sociopath.
Gee, if it were me, I’d rather be thought of as mentally ill. Hmmmm…..maybe we’re on to something. Either Britney’s mental, or she’s evil. Which is it Britney?
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With all due respect to the mental health care professionals jumping on their colleagues for making a diagnosis, it really doesn’t take a shrink to deduce that Britney is a serious nutjob.
Comment by Reality TV News Blog — January 24, 2008 @ 2:12 pm
I choose the evil label.
Comment by sally — January 24, 2008 @ 2:23 pm
It does not take a rocket scientist (or a PhD) to look at Brit’s actions and see that she is mentally ill. No, we can’t make a specific diagnosis, and my educated guess (and that’s really all it is) of Brit being bipolar covers a lot of ground. That word covers a large area of mental health issues and I wouldn’t go farther than that in my armchair diagnosis.
But I’m going to go farther (as I have before) and throw in that I think she also suffers from OCD (the compulsive cleaning, the not wanting people to touch her, among other things), ADD (come on, that’s pretty obvious), problems with growing up too fast and her parents divorcing, and some pretty bad PMS/hormonal problems (as I mentioned in a previous article). Any way you slice it, this girl needs competent, ongoing, intensive mental health treatment. Despite what some may think of me, I do hope she gets it.
Comment by k — January 24, 2008 @ 3:55 pm
I think Britney is a sweet girl. And a tough little cookie.
“AN OPEN LETTER TO BRITNEY SPEARS”
http://loveandaffection01.wordpress.com/
Comment by herfan — January 24, 2008 @ 4:01 pm
Some people have too much time on their hands.
Comment by k — January 24, 2008 @ 4:27 pm
[...] People magazine defends itself for pulling a Dr. Phil - GL [...]
Pingback by pop on the pop - celebrity news, pictures and weird news stories — January 24, 2008 @ 7:20 pm
….all of this stuff gets weirder by the moment:0
Comment by EBayer — January 24, 2008 @ 10:19 pm
It’s not uncommon for people to guess someone’s mental state by hearing what they do. Bipolar is difficult to diagnose in a clinical setting because there’s a level of care that requires the clinician to rule out other possibilities, or to determine if there are problem other than or in addition to bipolar disorder, etc.
However, anyone who has ever known an unmedicated manic depressive can make an intelligent guess about someone who acts EXACTLY LIKE an unmedicated manic depressive. It’s not really rocket science, it’s simple observation.
The PRECISE diagnosis is time-consuming and MUST include many checks and balances, yes. The GENERAL diagnosis can be made pretty easily, however.
Also note that the complaints came not from the American Medical Association (psychiatrists are medica doctors, after all) or the American Psychiatric Association (which includes psychologists and others who work in the mental health fields), but by the American Psychoanalytic Association. These are people who specialise in psychoanalysis. You know, lie on the couch an tell me about your mother and your dreams, that sort of thing. While I’m sure there are many psychologists and psychiatrists amongst them, they’ve got a pretty strong agenda. They want people to get psychoanalysis!
Comment by Exyank — January 24, 2008 @ 11:48 pm
I would just like to say, that Britney is doing all of this on purpose…
She loves to get everyone worked up.
I read in an interview a few years ago, that the reason why she’d wear rediculous outfits,was because she could. She knew she’d get a rise out of people..
And if anyone is making Britney “Mentall Ill”
It would be the paporazii.. Put yourself in someone else’s shoes..
You do these things for popular demand or b/c you think the united states population wants to hear about it.. Just so you can make a dollar to have food on your table..
It’s actually very sickening..WHO CARES if Britney Shaved her head? WHO CARES if Britney wants to have another baby?
For all you know, since it’s been said by you paporazii before that Britney was Bisexual, maybe the guy she was dating that was married, JUST MAYBE the woman was involved too?
Who knows?
I’m so sick of you all tearing her apart. YOU are ruining Britney Spears, b/c you know the power you have on our Country.
You need to get a life, and a real job-instead of being STALKERS and hiding out to see if she grabs a cup of coffee on the way to buy a new Mercedes..
GET A LIFE.
Comment by andrea — January 25, 2008 @ 12:28 am
Yet, andrea, you are here reading it, and actually taking the time to comment on it. Big surprise. And what is this we have power over our country? Whatever, half the time I don’t have power over my own chocolate attacks. And don’t tell me why I do this or anything else that I do, since you have no true idea of my motives or anyone else’s.
I suggest you read this little piece on the subject of Brit and her symbiotic relationship with the paparazzi (the correct spelling, btw).
Comment by k — January 25, 2008 @ 1:13 am
We all have made mistakes in our lives..Let her be so she may heal inside and out…
Our prays are with you….
Comment by Milady — March 11, 2008 @ 9:09 am