I don't think anything about her life is "common." I also think it's obvious that her father is controlling her in order to further her career and make more money, not because its in her best interests. I don't think "overextending oneself" is ever given as a cure to mental illness.

What is not clear in the article is that Britney agreed to all this in family court as part of the conditions she must meet to possibly regain custody of her kids. Basically, staying sober and honoring her contracts.

I also think it's obvious that her father is controlling her in order to further her career and make more money

I don't think that's true at all- Dad has given up his whole life to follow her around and make sure she doesn't end up another tragedy. Manager Larry Rudolph, on the other hand... I don't trust him. Did you watch the MTV documentary? After all her talk of how boring her life is, Britney also says that she loves, loves, loves her "job"- dancing, performing. The whole thing was pretty odd, and produced by - Larry Rudolph. I read a story that said that the documentary was his idea of how to make it look like it was her father's fault if the conservatorship didn't work out. That makes sense- I can't figure out why else he'd let her appear so pathetic.

I also think it's obvious that her father is controlling her in order to further her career and make more money, not because its in her best interests.

That's not true. Britney Spears makes over $800,000 a month doing nothing. She doesn't need more money and, above all, doesn't want more money. What Britney wants is custody of her kids and, like Ardiril says, Britney's father has to be in control or else Britney cannot see her kids. The court, Britney, and Kfed all agreed that Britney needs her father to control her estate for Britney to be at a stable enough point to be able to take care of her kids.

For despite her fame and riches, Britney has made it clear all she wants is a quiet life.

That line is totally false and is merely the author projecting some false "oh she's just a normal girl / she's just like us / blah blah blah" onto Britney. Britney does not want a quiet life. What Britney wants, right now and right this minute, is for her father to be out of her life, to have control over her finances, and to keep having her manic episodes. Her documentary on MTV on Sunday night, besides being just a giant commercial for her album, also did its best to try and be empathetic towards Britney and paint her in the same light that Richard Price is painting Britney. The problem is that it's a lie. She wants the doctors out of her life. She wants the control out of her life. She mistakenly believes that she's able to make rational and coherent choices. She mistakenly believes that she doesn't need help. She mistakenly believes that manic episodes are how life is suppose to live. Which is why she is rumored to want to see her ex-boyfriend Adnan, why she continually surrounds herself with people who are "exciting" but take advantage of her, and why she still believes all the "loves" of her life left her (even though its rumored she cheated on Justin which is why he left her). That's the thing - she's not well and, sadly, she doesn't want to be well for her own sake. She'll only try to be well to keep custody of her kids.

Now, however, the very regime which had saved her from madness is threatening to drive her back into the abyss.

This is faulty thinking because it assumes that she can be "cured" and never have to worry about her bipolar ever again and that, if she was just able to make her own choices, she'd get "better". That's now how mental illness works. You don't get "cured" - you learn how to manage your symptoms. Her problems on X factor or other places is not tied to the regime that is trying to keep her stable, her problems are tied to her mental illness. And to claim otherwise just shows a lack of empathy or understanding towards Britney or her situation.

Great comment, stynxno.

This is the best photo that I've seen of her to date. She a) looks human b) looks like fun!
≡ Click to see image ≡

Yeah, she looks like a normal humanoid out for a laugh, which is unusual because every photo I've ever seen of her is either contrived and shows her "on" or is taken at one of her worst moments and nobody looks good like that.

I think I lean more toward stynxo's POV here -- she's clearly prone to mania and needs someone to control her, all the more so because she has access to $800,000 a month (my god, the shopping sprees...). I'm not wholly convinced that control should be in the hands of these three particular people, but then I'm not the judge in the case. I don't think she's being whored out because performing is probably her life, but her latest appearances have been unconvincing in that regard -- it isn't really doing it for her.

But I do think the best thing for her and her kids is to have some major structure.

OK, I clearly don't know what I'm talking about wrt to the father. (Bipolar, unfortunately, I know all too much about, due to family history.) Mea culpa, carry on.