As Britney Spears is arrested for suspected DUI, we revisit what the troubled star – and people near her – have mentioned about her psychological well being

Britney Spears‘ latest brush with the law has reignited concern about the troubled pop star’s mental health.

The 44-year-old singer was arrested in Los Angeles on March 4 on suspicion of driving under the influence, according to police. 

She was released the next morning and is scheduled to appear in court on May 4. 

The incident is the latest in a string of troubling episodes that have alarmed fans and observers in recent years, including erratic driving incidents and controversial videos posted to social media showing the star dancing with knives.

Mental health experts say such public warning signs can sometimes reflect deeper struggles with stress, substance misuse, or unresolved trauma – issues the singer has spoken about publicly in the past.

And speaking to the Daily Mail, one of the UK’s most respected psychiatrists suggested that Spears could even be displaying symptoms of early onset dementia – a condition cited as a reason for keeping her in a conservatorship from 2008 until 2021. 

A representative called Spears’ DUI incident ‘unfortunate and completely inexcusable,’ adding that she plans to comply with the law and take steps toward long-term well-being. 

‘Hopefully, she can get the help and support she needs during this difficult time. Her boys are going to be spending time with her. Her loved ones are going to come up with an overdue plan to set her up for long-term well-being.’

For many fans, the arrest raises fresh questions about whether Spears is receiving the support she needs after years of intense public scrutiny and mental health struggles.

In her 2023 memoir, Spears revealed she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and prescribed lithium, which she described as more a method of control than a therapeutic treatment. 

She also detailed her experience with severe postpartum depression and other mental health struggles during the 13 years she spent under a controversial conservatorship between 2008 and 2021.

Before Spears’ admission, there had been years of speculation surrounding her mental health and treatment. 

‘Concerning’ social media posts 

Following the DUI arrest, Spears seems to have deactivated her Instagram account, which had 42 million followers. 

But up until then, she had previously shared videos that worried fans, including clips of her dancing in revealing outfits. 

In September 2023, she posted videos dancing with knives on social media, prompting authorities to perform a wellness check at her home. Police reported that Spears was ‘fine’ and ‘nothing was going on.’

The star later admitted she knew she had ‘spooked’ fans with the video but insisted that the knives were fake.

Psychiatrist Professor Dinesh Bhugra told the Daily Mail that the videos – which can be uncomfortable to watch – could be the Toxic star’s way of showing fans that she thinks she’s happy and well.

He said: ‘Quite often in bipolar illnesses, people go high and they enjoy it.

‘People typically tend to isolate themselves when they’re feeling low, but when you’re feeling high, you want to demonstrate to everybody how high and good and energetic and enthusiastic you are.

‘That’s the difficulty, because others around them might say “you’re high and you need to take your medication or you need to see someone”.

‘But when you’re high, you enjoy the sense of flying and being on top of the world and you’re in a very unreal situation.

‘I think the videos she posts show that she is disinhibited – and she may not actually know what she’s doing.’

Does Britney Spears have dementia? 

Spears’ father reportedly indicated in 2008 court documents that she had a dementia-related condition to justify the temporary conservatorship.

According to the 2021 documentary The Battle for Britney, Jamie Spears checked a box on court forms related to ‘dementia placement or treatment’ when establishing the conservatorship in February 2008.

Critics, including the ‘Free Britney’ movement, argued the claim was fraudulent or a way to maintain control over her assets.

During the conservatorship, Spears continued to perform, record albums, and work, inconsistent with a diagnosis of dementia. 

Lawyers involved with the movement highlighted that this ‘mythological’ or unsubstantiated claim was a key factor in enabling the 13-year-long legal arrangement.

However, Professor Bhugra told the Daily Mail that while it is incredibly rare to be diagnosed with dementia in your early forties, there is a form of the disease connected to heavy drinking. 

While there is no suggestion that Britney Spears has dementia or a similar alcohol-related health condition, changes in behaviour – like an increase in drinking, risky behaviours and change in personality are all hallmarks of the disease in younger people. 

Professor Bhugra said: ‘Alcoholism can cause alcoholic dementia. 

‘Drinking six or seven glasses of wine or beer every day for six or years means that your brain and liver never have time to recover from the alcohol. 

‘It’s a slippery slope and your frontal lobe just “goes”. 

‘It may be that what she is experiencing is the loss of inhibition that sometimes happens to people with dementia.’ 

What was the first sign that she had become unwell?

Spears’ struggles date back to 2007, when she shaved her head and hit a paparazzi’s car with an umbrella.

In 2007, at the height of her career, Spears went to a hair salon requesting to have her head shaved. When the stylist refused, she cut her hair herself. 

Just days later, she was photographed attacking a photographer’s car with an umbrella.

She explained what led to this public breakdown in her memoir, The Woman in Me. The singer wrote that she was ‘out of my mind with grief’ after her aunt died of ovarian cancer in January 2007. The same year, Spears went through a legal dispute with her ex-husband over the custody of their children.

‘With my head shaved, everyone was scared of me, even my mom,’ she wrote. ‘Flailing those weeks without my children, I lost it, over and over again. I didn’t even really know how to take care of myself.’

‘I am willing to admit that in the throes of severe postpartum depression, abandonment by my husband, the torture of being separated from my two babies, the death of my adored aunt Sandra, and the constant drumbeat of pressure from paparazzi, I’d begin to think in some ways like a child,’ she added.

The incidents were followed by Spears checking into rehab, leaving in March 2007.

Over the years, fans have also been left concerned after the singer insisted in speaking in a British accent, something they noticed she did when in stressful situations or recalling painful memories. 

It has also been reported that Spears was diagnosed with ADHD as a child, but she had to stop taking medication when her serious mental health issues manifested.  

Why was she in a conservatorship?  

In February 2008, Spears was placed on back-to-back psychiatric holds, prompting her father, Jamie Spears, to petition for an emergency temporary conservatorship over his eldest daughter.

The conservatorship was later made permanent in October 2008.

Spears later wrote that those managing her conservatorship prohibited her from keeping her shaved head and directed her to focus on fitness, maintain a strict bedtime, and take multiple medications. 

She pleaded with a judge in open court to end the legal arrangement in September 2021, and Jamie was suspended as her conservator. Two months later, the conservatorship was terminated.

Spears has had a contentious relationship with her family members for years following the end of the 13-year legal arrangement.

Is this her first driving offence? 

Wednesday’s arrest is not Spears’ first run-in with the law. She was previously arrested in 2007 on charges including an alleged hit-and-run with a parked car in Los Angeles. The charges were eventually dropped after she paid damages to the car’s owner.

In 2006, prior to her conservatorship, Spears caused controversy when she was photographed driving with her then-five-month-old son, Sean Preston, in her lap. She later apologised, reportedly telling Access Hollywood: ‘I made a mistake and so it is what it is, I guess.’

In 2007, Spears was filmed accidentally running over a paparazzo’s toes in Beverly Hills, and cameras captured multiple traffic violations, including running red lights, using her phone while driving, and making illegal turns. 

Around the same time, her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, asked a judge to prevent her from driving their two sons.

More recently, Spears faced additional driving violations. In March 2022, she was cited for driving at an ‘unsafe speed for prevailing conditions,’ months after doctors advised her to be cautious behind the wheel as she reentered the world following 13 years under a conservatorship. In September 2023, she was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol and cited for not having a valid license and failing to provide proof of insurance.