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This Week's Attitude
However, after the 26-year-old's latest meltdown, during a child custody dispute when she refused to return her visiting children to ex-husband Kevin Federline, resulting in a standoff with police and subsequent hospitalization, it struck me that this troubled woman urgently needs unsympathetic counseling VERY soon or there's a likelihood she'll end up dead before her 30th birthday. Of course, in the compassionate aftermath some will shake their heads and lament she should have gotten help. Well, the time for expert intervention is NOW, before tabloid headlines across the world scream, "Britney Dead From Overdose of Drugs and Alcohol" with the subhead, "Fans Mourn Her Passing." Pop tartlets like Britney - and Lindsay Lohan, Tara Reid, Mischa Barton and Natasha Lyonne - skyrocket to renown then pursue a reckless girls-just-wanna-have-fun course as promising careers nosedive. Even as they mature chronologically, these girls don't act like adults, even when they bear children. Consequently, they get surefire tabloid gossip coverage, as they turn into daily fodder for paparazzi, who get numerous opportunities to document their downfalls. I have no sympathy for Spears - and never will - unless evidence shows that her tempestuous habits are the result of some chronic malady. (One professional last week said her actions indicate bipolar disorder.) Regardless, Britney needs to turn her life around for herself, the sake of her children - K-Fed, doesn't exactly appear to be a model parent either - and to show remaining adoring young fans that with proper guidance one can straighten out their life even after a string of disasters. Wanna know how far Britney's star has fallen? Someone said to me she's starting to make Michael Jackson look like a saint. Britney Spears needs professional counseling, but you don't have to be a certified psychologist to appreciate that in the last few years her life has spiraled out of control and is in desperate need of specialized intervention. But someone should have set her straight years ago. Her parents have clearly been no help. Perhaps too many years of living off her fame and fortune have them anxious of pushing her too far and estranging their proverbial goose with the golden eggs. Several former employees, fed up with her destructive lifestyle, wisely jumped off the Spears' ship before it sank this far. Nevertheless, friends and paid associates continue to enable her in the face of myriad mishaps just to keep mooching off her. Mama Spears found another way to sponge off her successful progeny with a cushy one-million-dollar deal with a Nashville-based Christian publisher for a tell-all book, scheduled to come out this Mother's Day. The volume would recount what it's like to raise two show biz kids in a pop culture world. The book was indefinitely postponed last month after Brit's 16-year-old sister Jamie revealed she was pregnant, but it was recently reported to be back on schedule. Last week, Brit's mother and father blasted Dr. Phil (McGraw) and pulled out of a taping for the TV therapist's show in which he planned to discuss their daughter's breakdown and recurring problems. After Lynne and Jamie Spears asked Dr. Phil to visit their troubled celebrity daughter in the hospital, Brit's mother said she "felt betrayed" because he promoted the show, telling the media "…she is in dire need of both medical and psychological intervention." Britney reportedly was so angered by her parents' conferring with Dr. Phil and tabloid rumors of an intervention that she flew to Mexico last Thursday to get away from them, which only reinforced the fact that Spears needs help from outside her family. Why would any parent appear on national television to further expose their child's tribulations to a shrink when she's already had enough public humiliation for any lifetime? Secondly, what kind of therapist discusses a patient's condition - without the patient's consent? The New York Post reported last week that Dr. Phil, who has a PhD in psychology, is currently unlicensed. Dr. Phil gained prominence as a trial consultant when he advised Oprah Winfrey in a legal matter a dozen years ago and was subsequently anointed by the talk show diva, which paved the way for his rise as a pop culture star and best-selling, self-help author. Under Winfrey's production banner, he secured a weekday syndicated talk show in which he has dispensed advice to guests and viewers since 2002. The TV host should have waited until the show aired before offering a public diagnosis of Britney's problems. Instead, he merely exploited the young woman's dilemma for personal gain - higher ratings for his show. Britney would do better reading "Stardom for Dummies." Celebrity troubles and shame are nothing new, but a handful of today's young tartlets have taken disgrace to another level with frenzied tabloids and fanzines in constant pursuit to satisfy the public's evidently interminable appetite for celebrity misfortunes. Britney Spears once topped the pop music charts, but in recent years she has only led the list of young stars who have dramatically fallen from grace. This week she missed a crucial court appearance in the continuing child custody dispute with K-Fed, only to have a judge extend the suspension of visitation rights with her children. Someone - anyone but Dr. Phil - with the appropriate qualifications needs to take Britney Spears under their supervision because her continuing collapse is no longer a laughing matter.
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