Bipolar Celebrities: Does It Make Them More Creative?

Britney Spears

While the pop princess, 26, is keeping quiet about possible mental health problems, speculation and rumors about a possible bipolar diagnosis have swirled around Spears since the infamous shaved-head photos surfaced. A parade of psychiatrists and psychologists—none of whom have actually treated Spears, mind you—have “diagnosed” her as bipolar in various media outlets.

“Her erratic behavior has moved into bipolar disorder,” psychologist Robert Butterworth said in a 2007 interview with Us Weekly online, for instance. A January 2008 People magazine cover story about Spears referred to “a likely bipolar disorder,” and in it, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based psychiatrist said Spears’s actions suggested “classic bipolar behavior, including hypersexuality, poor judgment, and impulsivity.” Whatever mental health condition Spears may (or may not) be suffering from, a new hit single suggests that the beleaguered singer has regained her footing. 

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