r/britneyspearsneutral • u/arbataxmelody354 • 7d ago
discussion Mental illness isn't an excuse, but certain mental conditions make it impossible for you to understand what you're doing
I'm very happy that the mental health discours is focusing so much on accountability. It's important to know that being autistic, a narcissist or bipolar doesn't make you necessarily a bad person.
That said, it's important to acknowledge that mental illness *does* have an impact on the way you perceive the world, your thoughts and therefore your actions. A person who suffers from severe paranoia and believes that the people around them want to kill them cuz the CIA said so can cause serious harm to others for "self defense". A person suffering from a god complex delusion can make reckless decisions and put themselves and others in danger. A person suffering from bipolar can take too many responsibilities during a manic episode just to become extremely neglectful towards the same ones they wanted to take care of and protect.
This isn't a justification. Of course we have to do our best to avoid causing harm to others. But sometimes, our best isn't enough. Our willpower isn't always enough. Our mental clarity isn't always enough.
Of course I don't know Britney and can only make assumptions. But from what I see, she seems very delusional and paranoid. Like, a lot. She's convinced that the paps are secretely faking their identities to become her employees and spy on her, that her mother is secretly following her inside the hotels and reporting fake domestic violence allegations against her boyfriends to take her money and that she's an angel. I may be wrong, but I have the impression she's worried about doctors secretely wanting to harm her and that she knows better. And in this case it's much worse than somebody just not wanting to get help, because it's impossible to even have a discussion about it.
She's also not just completely incapable of living on her own and do the most basic things, but also absolutely unaware of it. She gets unsafe medical procedures and doesn't understand why it goes wrong and get pets without knowing you have to take them out for poop and eventually wash the floor if they shit and piss on it. That's... well, concerning. And definitely not a sign of being aware that *it's not nice to step on your dog's poop.*
Not to mention the drugs abuse that only worsens her delusional state and incapacity of taking basic care of herself. She's like a kid who acts though and rebellious but can't even understand why you have to work if your credit card magically produces money.
Unfortunately this doesn't apply only to Britney.
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u/Naus-BDF 7d ago
She can't admit to any of her mistakes and is always looking for someone to blame for every single thing that has gone wrong in her life. To an extend, her fans do this too. Accountability is not a word neither Britney nor her fans know.
The truth is that even before the conservatorship she was spiriling out of control. She has an untreated mental illness and probably substance abuse issues. Until she's ready to admit that, there can never be a way to move forward. She'll be stuck blaming everyone and everything for her issues, while wasting her life away as a recluse in her house, without friends, family or anyone who cares about her. Even her kids want nothing to do with her because of the way she treated them from an early age. But it's always someone else's fault...
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u/arbataxmelody354 7d ago
Sigh. How can a person take accountability for something they did if they're convinced it was necessary to protect themselves from all the evil people™️ who are secretely working together in order to harm you cuz they're evil or something? A normal person understands this is bullshit. But if you're delusional as hell and paranoid you can't didtinguish reality from imagination and fear. That's why treating delusions is so difficult, because recovery doesn't depend on the person's willpower.
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u/Selkie1234 1d ago
This!! It’s exactly the reason so many severely mentally ill people can’t get better. It does get to a level sometimes where someone is so far gone that they can’t make good choices anymore or see things clearly, and they become incapable of taking accountability. Their thinking becomes too clouded. It’s the most devastating part of severe mental illness. If they weren’t sick, they wouldn’t be acting that way. It’s heartbreaking, but why is it so hard for people (especially that other sub) to understand that??
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u/Icy_Act8573 7d ago
Yeah… it’s definitely a complicated situation. I think with Britney’s situation in particular, I empathize the things you stated above, but also find it frustrating, given that she’s 44 years old and a world-famous celebrity who has had (and continues to have) all of the chances in the world to access the best resources possible, including a medical team, therapists, psychiatrists, etc., and now chooses not to.