Comments on: Does Britney Spears have Borderline Personality Disorder?

By: Sara

Sara — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 00:07:12 +0000

I think the key thing here is that personality disorders are developmental disorders that demonstrate characteristic and maladaptive ways of thinking, feeling and behaving. Personality and personality disorders are believed to begin in childhood whereas Bipolar Disorder can be triggered in childhood, adolescence, adulthood and commonly post-pregnancy. Given the public impression of Britney prior to her “breakdown” as a normal together girl, it would seem relatively unlikely to me that she was suffering from any personality disorder that should technically have had negative impacts on her social and occupational functioning prior to the breakdown.

Britney’s apparent difficulties began mainly in the post-pregnancy period, although behaviour consistent with hypomania, mania and/or substance abuse does occur around the 2003-2004 time. Giving birth to children in such a close time frame is generally not recommended by midwives, and for an individual who may have a genetic predisposition toward bipolar disorder or depression, doing so is likely to cause many problems.

Based on the timeline of events, the behaviour would seem more consistent with a post-partum depression/psychosis or bipolar I disorder. Much of the observed behaviour was consistent with mania, as opposed to hypomania.

Realistically though, this is based only on what I know of the situation and of abnormal psychology, which like everyone else who doesn’t know Britney personally and isn’t a mental health professional, is very little.

By: Mister Borderline

Mister Borderline — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 22:27:18 +0000

I think the Borderline personalities are just the natural talented artists. Doctors measure it out but can only observe. They have no clue what it really is or why it’s there.
I can guarantee you that 99% of the Hollywood people are Borderline ,bipolar or plain psychopathic.

I have doctors that noticed a discrepancy in my WAIS
IQ test and didn’t have a clue why that was.
That’s the problem with most doctors – they just follow the studies of others more specialized than themselves and when they meet somebody that doesn’t fit their categories they are left with their hand in their hair.

By: kevin blumer

kevin blumer — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 16:36:10 +0000

well form her personality it would suggest that she does have something up but BPD i dont quite think so

By: Veronica

Veronica — Mon, 24 May 2010 11:02:17 +0000

I wondered that before too. However, I think it sounds more like she has Histrionic Personality Disorder.

http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/Personality_Disorders/hic_Histrionic_Personality_Disorder.aspx

By: Darrell Vial

Darrell Vial — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 11:47:13 +0000

The reference concerning Britney Spears caught my eye. Recently I’ve become a big devotee and can not get too much gossip or comments about her media coverage. Be it head trimming, muddy videos, marriage failures or just another pop single there is a lot going on about Britney. Pity about the youngsters involvement but I guess the money will assist them. The internet age is her opportunity for money but will it be her ruin with too much reporting and exposure. In fact I imagine that this posting and my comment are part of the selfsame exposure I commented about.

By: Celebrities with Borderline Personality Disorder (possibly, not for sure) | Anything to Stop the Pain - BPD and Non-BPs

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:13:35 +0000

[...] 2. Britney Spears (more on Britney try this link and this one) [...]

By: t

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 07:07:03 +0000

why is there so much stigma attached to bpd any way. people realy dont understand how difficult it is to live with the illness. im not running down any other mental illness. because they are all a challenge in them selves. how ever some mental illneses come and go in episodes or sometimes dont reoccure and can be treated with the right medication. all though im taking in to acount that with some forms of skitsofrenia and other mental illness such as some forms of bipolar this is not the case comparably bpd is a chronic debilitating and serious illness and should be classed on the same level as skitsofrenia, bipolar ect. there is no cure for bpd. how ever there is the option of cbt, dbt ect which are forms of therapy that arent a quick fix by any means! bpd sufferers literaly have to learn a whole new way of thinking and how to better handle their emotions, this takes years. allthough some antidepresants do make a slight differance. my doctor once explained to me that bpd is a result of faulty brain wiring occuring as a child and or adolesent once youre brain has formed in any way theres no going back, you have to learn your way out of it. i admire britters alot. she has dealt with the critisim remarkably and im proud that shes finaly making a come back. go brits!

By: well

well — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:02:37 +0000

Well It may be

But I think it’s more likely that Britney first suffered from postpartum depression, and has since gotten delusional and psychotic

By: Babette

Babette — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 05:12:57 +0000

When the stories about Britney Spears’ behavior started to surface in the news and the media began their “what was she thinking” hype, my thoughts went out to her. I am 32 and was diagnosed with BPD 2 years ago. After being consumed by particular demons for a long period of time and making an unmentionable amount of mistakes (i.e. self-destructiveness, substances, relational issues out the ying-yang, rage, you name it….)….relating to someone even so far from my world of reality as a common housewife isn’t difficult at all.

I recently viewed her newest video, “Womanizer”. In my opinion, the girl has at least scratched the surface as to where her demons lie. She is facing them with quite an inner strength, as her song / video accurately portray to theose who truly understand the disorder. I can’t describe accurately enough the connection I felt in the underlying issues she is singing about and demostrating in the video. As a BPD suffer / fighter, all I can say is…..look out world. You’ve got one strong girl you’re messing with. And she’s got your game.

By: Bon Dobbs

Bon Dobbs — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:34:29 +0000

Ok, first of all….

1. Eating for emotional comfort and binge eating are self-destructive. Each is an adaptation to emotional pain. Emotional pain is the hallmark of BPD.

2. Some experts say that up to 5% of women have a form of the disorder. Some say 2% of the total population. 75% of BPs are women. I’m not going to “do the math” because those stats are citing two separate sources – one that says it is more common in women than we previously thought.

3. You have to be kidding me.

4. Drug and alcohol abuse is common with Borderlines.

I can’t believe you bothered to comment on this story in that way and didn’t bother to leave a real email address.

By: Just some corrections

Just some corrections — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 02:03:23 +0000

1. Overeating is not counted as one of the self-destructive behaviors in BPD. (Almost everyone “overeats” frequently.) Binge eating is what you’re talking about.

2. Your prevalence numbers aren’t consistent. If the general population estimate is 2%, then the 5% number for women can’t be right. It would have to be less than 4%.

3. Sexual deviance or inappropriateness aren’t what they mean by self-destructive sexual behaviors (they’re talking more unprotected sex).

4. I’d be skeptical of both bipolar or BPD diagnoses in the context of serious drug and alcohol abuse.

By: noname

noname — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:43:35 +0000

It is estimated that around 70% or people with BPD have been victims of sexual abuse and although it is against current medical oppinion i believe BPD is not caused by biological factors but is an environmental response when this evidence is considered. That being said it is a serious mental illness and requires treatment.
i think Britney does suffer from one of the two illnesses discussed. there were reports in the media that something serious happened to Britney 5 years ago but no mention of what this event was. perhaps this was abuse of some sort (not necessarily sexual). as a celebrity i imagine her bringing an issue like this to the medias attention would be even more traumatic and difficult than for someone not under the spotlight. So it is understandable that she has kept some things private. however, i think the stigma surrounding illness needs to be addressd and a celebrity would be a brilliant way of reducing the publics fear regarding such matters.
Either way i think Britney is back on track for the moment. so good luck to her. i hope she overcomes her demons

By: Mia

Mia — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 21:23:05 +0000

Get herself a “helper”? Are you kidding? I have borderline also, but you must know that although we do realize that we have issues with impulsivity, asking for help to some of us represents the ultimate failure. It takes a very self-aware person suffering from this and an ability to really accept that you can’t handle your life to do that…very difficult for us.

By: Jada

Jada — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 14:35:54 +0000

I have been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, adn have read numerous books surrounding the subject. As soon as I started learning what was happening in Britney’s life it made me think immediately that she has the same disorder that I do.

By: What are people looking for about Borderline Personality Disorder - celebrities, lying, pain and coping skills | Anything to Stop the Pain - BPD and Nons

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 19:17:27 +0000

[...] are fascinated with the lives (and mental states) of celebs. When I launched my first article on a celeb (Britney Spears) with possible BPD, my blog accesses/hits jumped through the roof. So, over to the right you can find a graph of a [...]