Mental Health and Custody
If you have a mental health problem, will it effect your ability to get custody of your children in your divorce?
Another question brought on by the ever public and ever more bizarre behavior of Brittany Spears is if you have a personality disorder, can you still get custody of your kids? The short answer is yes. The expanded answer is it is possible, even likely, but it depends on how you deal with the problem.
Are you getting treatment? If you are prescribed medication do you take it? In a custody issue it comes down to who has been the primary caretaker of your children. If it’s been the mother, but she suffers from depression which she treats by taking prozac, the court will probably still award the mother primary custody. If the mother has been the primary caretaker, suffers from depression, but has just been hospitalized because she’s tried to kill herself, then she will probably not get custody because she is clearly unstable.
In all likelihood if Brittany Spears is diagnosed with bi-polar disorder, placed on medication that she takes regularly, and seeks treatment with a doctor, she will regain her visitation. Unfortunately for her, she has so alienated the judge at this point by flouting his orders and not showing up for court, much less her deposition, it is unlikely that he will ever consider awarding her primary custody. However, it is important to remember that initially she did have custody of her children, and it was only after some very public meltdowns that the situation changed.