- Hi everyone, in today's video,
we are going to be talking more about conservatorships.
(gentle music)
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to the Living Well With Schizophrenia channel.
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to live with schizoaffective disorder or schizophrenia.
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So over the years,
we have received repeated requests
to cover the topic of conservatorships
as it pertains to those with serious mental illness,
such as schizophrenia.
Now, I'm from Canada,
and we don't have conservatorships here,
but we do have similar measures
in terms of guardianships and trusteeships.
Conservatorship seem like kind of a timely thing to discuss,
given how much publicity the topic is currently getting
due to the ongoing Free Brittany Movement
around Britney Spears' conservatorship.
Now, to start off,
because I wasn't sure at first either,
what is a conservatorship?
So under the law in the United States,
a conservatorship is the appointment
of a guardian or protector by a judge
to manage either or both the financial affairs
on daily life of another person
due to old age or physical or mental limitations.
The specifics of how conservatorships work legally
vary from state to state,
but basically a conservator is someone
appointed by the courts to look after the estate,
which is the financial affairs of someone else,
but may also be of the person
whereby the conservator is in charge
of overseeing the daily activities of the conservatee.
These daily activities can include things
such as healthcare or living arrangements, et cetera.
A conservator of the person
is also more typically called illegal guardian.
Brittany Spears is in a conservatorship,
both of the estate and of the person.
Conservatorships are generally put into place
for people who are significantly disabled by mental illness,
elderly individuals who lack mental capacity
due to issues such as dementia
or individuals with developmental disabilities
who lack the capacity to manage their own affairs
or those who are in some other way,
unable to make legal medical or financial decisions
on behalf of themselves.
So in typical conservatorship appointments,
an allegedly incapacitate individual
must be assessed by a qualified physician or psychiatrist
who prepares a report
outlining the person's mental capacity,
which is then used as evidenced by the court.
None of this evidence has been made publicly available
in the case of Britney Spears' conservatorship,
as it shouldn't be
because that is personal health information,
but public evidence indicates though
that her conservatorship
is as a result of some sort of mental disability.
However, there is a lot of concern
that Britney Spears is not actually unable
to manage her affairs,
and many people are concerned about her being held
in a controlling and frankly unjust conservatorship
by her father, who is her appointed conservator.
Now, there are many issues currently being discussed
around Britney's conservatorship,
but it does beg the question
for those living with chronic mental illnesses,
such as schizophrenia, as to whether these conservatorships
are needed or are really kind of an infringement
on personal rights and freedoms.
Because of her conservatorship,
Brittany needs permission from her father for everything,
including business decisions, health voting, marriage,
and all her purchases, including a simple coffee run
now needing to be tracked and approved.
So I have been in the position multiple times before
where I have been deemed incompetent
and unable to make decisions for myself
as I pertain to my care.
I cannot begin to tell you
how dehumanizing and condescending this felt.
I felt like I was being told that I wasn't a real person
and that others would be making all my decisions
for me going forward,
which was essentially what was happening.
Now, I understand that there are instances
where it may be unsafe for one reason or another
for a person suffering from debilitating mental illness
to have complete control
over their financial and personal affairs.
I can understand why there may need to be systems in place
to help these people manage their affairs.
I'm not sure this process is always this ethical, however,
in deciding whether someone is capable or not
of managing their own affairs.
I was deemed incapable at various points
without accounting for my thoughts on the matter at all.
And in the case of Britney Spears,
she has not even been able to retain a lawyer
to fight her conservatorship
because she is being deemed incapable
of making such a decision as selecting a legal counsel.
This seems highly problematic.
Also her conservator, her father,
and her court-appointed lawyer
are being paid quite generously from her estate.
Also problematic.
I think basically there needs to be a better way
of working with the individual
being considered for conservatorship
to take into account their desires and preferences.
If at any point they're uncomfortable
with how the conservatorship is going,
there needs to be a better way
to listen to these concerns and reassess the arrangement.
I'm not sure it's ever ethical
to strip an individual of their personal autonomy.
When considering conservatorships
for individuals living with schizophrenia,
perhaps they may need more assistance
with personal or financial affairs at times or indefinitely,
but surely there is a better way
to go about providing this assistance
without stripping the person of all their rights,
freedoms, and autonomy.
All right, so thanks for taking the time
to watch this video.
I hope you learned a little bit more
about Brittany Spears' conservatorship
and what conservatorships mean
for people who are living with chronic mental illnesses.
If you have any experience with conservatorships
that you would like to share in the comments below,
we would love to hear from you.
Also just a quick reminder
that if you wanna help support the creation
of videos like this one,
make sure to check out the link to our Patreon page.
Thank you so much again for watching,
and as always, wishing you and your loved ones good health.
I'll see in the next video, bye.