Britney: A Kid with ADD?

Oh, Britney.

I feel bad for her. I think she's lost and in need of some serious therapy. But I'm pissed about the statement she made yesterday.

I truly hit rock bottom. Till this day I don't think that it was alcohol or depression. I was like a bad kid running around with ADD.

Um, Britney, honey...it was alcohol and depression.

You know, I was all set to write a post about how Britney Spears blaming her out-of-control behavior on some form of temporary ADD was misguided, judgmental, and damaging to those of us who actually have ADD.

But then I realized, Britney really was acting like a kid with ADD.

Let's review:

• She often left the house without underwear
• She took a buzzer to her own head and cut off all her hair
• She demanded everyone's attention while she performed a 15-minute lip sync show

Hmmm... sounds like an ADD kid to me.

Thoughts?  Please share in the comments field.

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Comments

[Mack]

Are you SERIOUS? My father has ADHD, my children have ADHD...and I HAVE ADHD. Since when are the things you posted any type of criteria for ADHD? There is a difference between a ADHD impulsivity and sheer idiocy...I am now wondering which side of that fence YOU fall on. Maybe that sounds like your ADHD child, or maybe it sounds like you yourself, I don't know, but it certainly sounds NOTHING like something any member of my family would do. Britney is in rehab, her behavior was the behavior of a person abusing substances.

If you don't take umbrage at the comparison between the behavior of an addict and the behavior of a child with ADHD, well, I do. I disagree with your "assessment" of what an ADHD child acts like and wonder why I bothered to come here to see something so insulting.

I won't be back, and I am willing to bet that this comment is moderated and will not make it to public print. You are as entitled to your opinion as I am entitled to disagree with and be offended by it.

[Jen Koretsky]

Yep, you are entitled to that opinion, and I'll even print it!

This post is a joke. It's my way of taking power away from Britney's statement.

For the record, I have ADD, and as I kid I definitely left the house without underwear once of twice, ruined my hair by getting curious and creative, and demanded that my family watch my lip sync performances.

If my post and/or blog is not your style, then I'm not offended.

[liz]

i thought it was funny

[Erin]

i thought this was really funny. yes, ADD is a mental health issue, but it's important (and healthy) to have a sense of humor about it. jen will be the first person to tell you the benefits of ADD (creativity, compassion, drive) so she has every right to joke about it. and her post did a great job of diffusing poor britney's comment.

[meadd823]

Heck I didn't even get real upset about the original comment and yours did not really phase me either. I guess at this point in my neurodiverse life I have read so many other things that are 100 times more damaging than either. I provided you with the url to my page looking under blog title "Scare tactics, half truths and ADD medications oh my " will illuminate exactly what it take to get me all fired up.

I also understand why the first person got upset because honestly I didn't detect any joking in your response either I saw agreement myself. This is the first time I have read your work;therefore I will take your word for it.

As an ADD child I often left the house wearing un-matched socks but I do not remember ever forgetting under-ware.I tried cutting my hair once but what kid ADD or other wise doesn't do this at least once? I have never lip sync either.I am hyperactive and my behavior never resembled the stuff Britney pulled. The only thing Britney said I do relate to is feelings of sadness,confusion and being lost, All of those are human emotions not necessarily related to ADD.

ADD is is the inability to consciously control your attention span and length of focus period. All the other stuff is pretty well an individual expression of this.

I grew up understanding mostly what it was like being misunderstood.I understood being treated like crap by adults and teased by children. I was not nor have I ever been an ignorant but sought after over paid pop star. I do not share much with Britney I think she drank to much and made a flippant remark that illuminated the over all ignorance the general population have about this condition called ADD. . . . .Britney stigmatized the condition ADD and that simply isn't right. Stigmas do not help any one they only serve to confuse every one.

Many do deal with this through humor however many are also sick of stigmas humorous,ignorant or otherwise. My hyperactive energy is best used to fight stigmas I simply have learned via rearing teen twins with ADD to pick and choose my battles. My battle is not with you.

[Kathy]

I didn't take insult at all...after all, how common is it for ADD-ers to try to self medicate through alcohol and substance abuse? LIke to be the center of attention? Highly impulsive. A highly creative problem solver is one who doesn't worry if the answer is PC/orthodox or not.

Yes there are many add-ers who don't do way out wacky things, just like there are many add-ers who never self medicated, didn't choose the entertainment field to get attention, and who live very under control lives. They are blessed.

Not saying she is or isn't, but it is not that far fetched.

[Kathy]

Let me clarify...I'm referring to Jennifer's comments, not Britney's. Britney's? What do we expect...like anyone's mind would be shaped by what she says about something!

[Jen Koretsky]

Thanks for your support, everyone! I appreciate it. :)

And how great is it that so many people are talking about ADD now? If nothing else, Britney brought some awareness to the issue.

I'd just like to say that just because someone acts like an idiot doesn't mean they have ADD. I think that even though ADD goes undetected a lot I also believe people are way to quick to shell out the ADD diagnosis. This hastiness can lead to peple using ADD as an excuse. Britney Spears doesn't have ADD. She's spoiled, abuses drugs and she's collapsed under the pressure of fame.

Now, I'm not offended by her(Britany) comment. Because, again, she's a moron. I will say that I didn't detect the humor in the above blog post. It sounded like you were agreeing with her. But that's just me.

[Pete Quily]

There probably is some evidence that she has ADD and is in partial denial about it. She's claims she's like an ADD kid but doesn't want to actually admit she might actually have ADD, so she doesn't have to take any personal responsibility to seek a diagnosis or take responsibility to actually deal with it by seeking treatment etc.).

I think this statmently reflects more negatively on her as a human being than it does on people with ADHD. She constantly blames everyone but herself for her problems and then says she's not blaming anyone.

I think there's also a bit more going on there than just ADD, possibly a bit of Narcissistic personality disorder too, see these symptoms
http://www.behavenet.com/capsules/disorders/narcissisticpd.htm

and perhaps a few other things as well.

As for shaving her head in public and her legs in a public pool too that maybe less ADD related and possibly more strategic move before a probably custody battle for the children.

I.e., getting rid of her hair so it can't be used to check for drug use, namely something stronger than pot and booze to show she isn't a fit mother. see this wikipedia entry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_test#Hair_drug_testing

"Hair drug testing

Hair testing is quite accurate and can go back normally 3 months (6 months or longer possible with specialty tests), showing any drugs of abuse used in the detection window....Some people attempt to circumvent this through shaving their heads. In the absence of the required amount of hair on the scalp, body hair can be used as an acceptable substitute...There is a growing trend in major companies and law enforcement agencies to utilize hair analysis on account of its efficiency and reputation as the gold standard when considering test accuracy."

[Tara McGillicuddy]

I think Narcissistic personality disorder may be a bit much. She's young, clueless, and immature and anything she says or does gets twisted and exaggerated by the media. None of us are seeing the real person.

I am somebody who needs my privacy and I can't even imagine how poorly I would deal with things if the media and tabloids were also always after me.

[Pete Quily]

she's not so young according to wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britney_spears

she's 25 years old and has been appearing on stage and tv for the last 14 years. She's hardly a newcomer to the spotlight or the media.

I won't debate the clueless part though.

But someone who needs their privacy would probably not become an entertainer who seeks the limelight. Part of getting all that attention is you get the attention of the regular media and the bottom feeder media that unfortunately goes along with it.