What #FreeBritney Can Tell Us About Mental Health and the Law
Unraveling the #FreeBritney movement provides a unique lens to examine the intersection of mental health and legal systems. It's a tale of personal struggle, societal attitudes, and legal complexities that can enlighten us about these critical issues.
Key Takeaways
In June, Britney Spears spoke to a court describing why she wants to end her conservatorship. In the 23-minute long statement, she described being medicated against her will, barred from seeing her friends, forced into work without break, and denied the right to remove her birth control to have a baby, among other abuses.
A Last Resort
A last resort
- Although the terms “conservatorship” and “guardianship” vary by state, they are often used to distinguish between financial assistance and personal assistance.
- The former mostly deals with the management of the conservatee’s finances, whereas the latter deals with everyday care, such as help around the home, with medical care, etc.
Conservatorships Can Still Be Good
Since the late 1960s, it has become more difficult to commit someone against their will
- This is great in some aspects because it does away with certain abusive tactics, notably through involuntary hospitalization or involuntary commitment
- In general, Brooks adds, it is troubling when someone has control over someone’s decisions to marry and to have children, when the person is a fully-grown adult
What Is Involuntary Commitment?
In involuntary commitment (also known as civil commitment or involuntary hospitalization), an individual is hospitalized and receives treatment against their will.
- Robert A. Brooks, JD, PhD, teaches courses at the intersection of law and psychology at Worcester State University, tells Verywell that involuntary commitment should be the “last resort.”
How Can Conservatorships Be Improved?
Changes need to happen in how the laws are regulated and how officials are trained to deal with the nuances of conservatorships.
- Zammiello proposes various adjustments that could reduce conservatorship-related risks:
- Providing all judges with universal guidance on what it means to be “incapacitated”
- Registering all conservators/guardians, regardless of state, in an online database
- Requiring that all of them go through a certification course
- In the event that the conservatee wishes to end their guardianship, it might help to place the burden of proof on the conservator.
Understanding the Modern Conservatorship
Psychiatrist Paul S. Appelbaum, MD, who directs the division of psychiatry, law, and ethics at Columbia University, tells Verywell that if you want to understand the modern conservatorship, you have to go back in time-at least half a millennium.
- These provisions go back to medieval England
- The idea is that the court is charged with determining exactly what your incapacities are and tailoring a guardianship with those powers to make decisions for you in those areas of specific incapacity while leaving the rest of your life untouched
What are the Dangers and Benefits?
When anyone is put in charge of another’s wellbeing, there’s a risk for abuse
- This risk is particularly heightened in Spears’s case, given her fame and fortune
- Once you’re deemed “mentally unfit,” anything you say or do can be questioned
- And when a conservatorship is granted, it can be very hard to undo