Spears is under the care of professionals who want to stabilize the young mom’s mental state and mood after publicly hitting rock bottom

By Stacey Silberman

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 2/3/08 – The down-spiraling life of Britney Spears is now in the hands of professionals, now that the young mom has been committed against her will, to under-go treatment by UCLA psychiatric ward doctors for an additional 14-day hold. This is on the heels of her initial 72-hour hold that culminated Sunday, according to reports.

The psychiatric ward doctors mandated Spears’ additional stay after the pop singer was diagnosed as gravely disabled, signaling that she was unable to care for herself. Hospital staff is required to cite a section in the state legal code known as 5250, which allows patient retention for necessary medical treatment, if the patient is found to be gravely disabled or a danger to themselves or others, a hospital source told The Associated Press.

Spears was committed to UCLA last Thursday after her private psychiatrist cited a section 5150 of the state code following Spears’ escalating self-destructive behavior. Specifically, it was her inability to sleep over a period of days and her reportedly dangerous driving, which signaled the second commitment in a month for Ms. Spears

“It is a terrible situation,” a source close to the Spears family told People. “Britney is in a padded room. Her family is so worried about her.”

Britney’s father and temporary co-conservator Jamie Spears won a legal battle in court with his daughter’s constant companion and manager Osama Lufti over the management of his daughter’s medical decisions and financial affairs after an emergency hearing was held in Los Angeles court Friday. The other conservator named is attorney Andrew Wallet.

Another hearing is scheduled for today to determine a longer-term conservancy for his mentally disabled daughter, as well as accept the extended 5250 hold, which he believes is in the best interest of his adult child.

According to reports by TMZ and other media, Spears is being treated for severe bipolar disorder after experiencing a manic period following the loss of visitation with sons Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, following her custody dispute which ended in a commitment by police back on Jan. 3.

Spears’ public life and psychiatric commitment is quite a soap opera these days, seemingly reminiscent of Jim Carrey’s Truman character, except for the fact that Britney is keenly aware of the public and media, even courting their involvement in the who, what and where of her daily life. But, most notably, Britney is a real person in serious crisis.

However, the live show with Britney Spears has now been put to rest, following her parents’ well-heeded intervention, which is a real personal drama for the Spears family and a story which is truly sad for all who’ve watched a woman, mother, daughter and pop star, who’s fallen apart at the seams.

On a side note, the AP has reported that British choreographer Hubert Essakow has put together a 14-minute dance called the “meltdown,” which is based on Britney’s recent downfall. The contemporary dance is his interpretation of Spears’ life under the lights of the paparazzi, including the head-shaving incident, and culminates with her being carried off on a stretcher.

“It will be performed … for one night only with four other short pieces of work,” said Craig Titley, director of marketing at the Rambert Dance Company.

“Meltdown” is a new dance for the company and was reported to be performed Friday at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Essakow told the BBC that he believes Spears’ story to be “a modern day tragedy.”

“You can’t open a newspaper without her being in it,” he said. “I became obsessed by every detail of her life.”