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Being a Britney fan negatively impacts my mental health


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2 hours ago, Lost In Space said:

This might seem like a strange topic, but I don’t feel like I’m alone here.

By no fault of her own, it is mentally and emotionally draining being a Britney fan. She is a person I have never met, but she is someone I deeply care for her. I genuinely love Britney as a person. Not in a psycho stan way, but as a person I have admired and looked up to since I was 9 years old. I have cried over her situation, felt genuine emotional distress and mental anguish for what she’s been put through. I feel depressed and anxious the majority of the time when I think of her, which is a lot. There is still the joy she brings through her music and stage performances, etc, but it’s all overshadowed by the evil that has been done to her. I think about her many, many times throughout the day and check multiple times per day for updates on her current situation. 

Sometimes I have contemplated unfollowing any Britney account I follow and not checking forums like this anymore because it’s too much. Obviously if anything major happened, I would hear about it somewhere in the mainstream news, but I do feel like it would be better for my wellbeing to not follow her so closely anymore.

Do any of you have similar feelings?

I have loved her from the very beginning. I was 10 when bomt came out and Britney was the light of my life bc I grew up in a very abusive family.

The situation at the moment is constantly on my mind and I can't wait for her to be free. Maybe it would keep me up at night but I take sleep medication anyway so whenever there's sth big or a lot of news that make me anxious I just take more sleep meds.

I talk about it all with my fiance aswell which helps me process it. 

Especially when I think about her being judged as a mom when the boys were so little... And me being a mom now and often times feeling overwhelmed, depressed and just like a failure.. my heart breaks for her. Because noone judged me and I got help when I needed it. I have a wonderful therapist and psychiatrist and they support me and make me feel like I can be a great mom/person. 

And then it brings up my own issues with my family.. all the controlling, narcissistic behaviour, gaslighting etc. 

That's why I'm glad I have sleeping pills bc I doubt I could sleep without them thinking about all these negative things 

Maybe you can see a therapist and discuss why it's affecting you so much or how you can deal with it better?

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1 hour ago, Onyxgirl17 said:

During COVID is when I really started paying attention to what was going on with my favorite celebrity … needless to say I went down the rabbithole and here we are a year later. 
 

It’s so strange how what happens to Britney affects us. Even though I’ve never met Britney Im emotionally invested in her happiness since she brought me so much happiness as a teenager. When Britney is abused it feels like the older sister I never had and look up to is being abused. 

I cried when “for the record” first aired and I’m not sure why it didn’t hit me then how wrong it was. Like it went in the back of my mind. 

I get this. The way they framed it was that Britney needed to be controlled and she was just venting about the situation. We did not know they extent of the manipulation and abuse from watching For the record. It also just felt like it was going to be temporary 

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It affects me actually but it does so because her situation relates to bigger systematic oppression and common family abuse that I have experienced myself. I have also watched many people suffer from it and did my best to help them, which has half way worked out at great cost for me every time. 
To see people bully her and to see how Hollywood is sleeping and only a handful are doing the bare minimum (a couple of tweets and weird musical tributes)  is stressful af. To see the media defend that a grown woman lacks human rights and is not allowed to pay with her own credit card or to phone her friends, and see journalists defend that with “maybe she needs this, we don’t know” is stressful af. Britney is all of us, if she does not have enough people fighting for her rights it means we as human beings don’t have enough compassion and justice and that affects all of us. 
 

I have never idolised her like that though, I really can’t stan musicians or actors, I see them as normal human beings whose work I enjoy and who seem charming in interviews and that is that.

With Britney just like with anything else I care about, the deal is to not spend too much time on the phone in between other things, to not use every break to obsess about it, because that will affect anyone’s mental health regardless if it is about Climate Change, Free Britney, BLM, elections or whatever.

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Someone said boyfriend, it got me thinking has this started to affect your friendships, family and relationships..

 

I mean what if you are dating a guy/girl that likes you for who you are but feel your way into the free Britney moment, that it's taken over your world vs. The real world like a job or responsibilities..

 

A partner can become an ex, your mom and dad, might say don't bother coming to the family meal if you can't talk about anything other than Britney spears..

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I understand completely how you feel however

I am not as emotionally involved as you especially cause 

I already have my own problems with depression, suicidal thoughts and anxiety.

So if I were to completely be involved like you mentioned,

I would be borderline.

So for my mental health, I choose not to get too close to the outcome and situation of Britney.

I still love her and wish her the best of course.

 

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@Lost In Space First and foremost, thanks for allowing yourself to be vulnerable. That is always something brave, no matter how anonymous the internet allows us to be.

Also, to all the people who shared their vulnerability and came with empathy and love, you are great. 

 

I don't want to repeat what others have said, because even as you wisely said yourself, this is not just about Britney. Of course everyone here or the majority wished the best for her, but obsession is always coping mechanism. Sometimes we project and we place our attention in a different object from the ones that are really causing the struggle. Nothing that takes over your whole life is a healthy thing. Balance is the key, but it is also not easy to achieve. What I mean is that, I think deep down you do know that as much as you are about her, your biggest struggle might come from another place. Anyways, I don't want to get too technical here, but this happens and it's normal. Just like some have said, always feel to reach out to me if you need to talk or just whatever you need. 

I send you a sincere and big, big hug. 

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I think you need to take a bit more healthy approach here.. yes, I also do care about care, and want her to success in her private life.. she is my idol and I want to stay up to date with everything but at the end of the day I have my work, my life etc so I just focus on this more.. I treat this forum as a side hobby to check from time to time during lower workload at work :makeup_kylie_jenner_makeup_brush_lol_laugh_haha_hehe_lmao:

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I know what you mean. I can easily dig myself a hole in everything that's going on and get lost in it.

So i have to keep myself at the distance. I follow only 3 pages on Instagram, Britney "herself", breaveheavy and freebritneyla. And only other thing is this website. 

Also as I have full time job it don't leave me a lot of time to dig around. Only time that I get very actually involved is when there's a hearing. 

There's no reason to ruin your life and health for someone else. That's surely won't help Britney or anyone.💗

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