Britney Spears Shares Health Update, Admits She Struggles 'To Think Clearly': "Trauma is Still There"

Pop icon Britney Spears got candid with her 42.2 million Instagram followers recently, revealing she is suffering from "serious nerve damage" that is so debilitating at times that it affects her ability to think clearly. In a since-deleted post, the 42-year-old singer stated there was a period when she was "held in a spot against [her] will for a very long time," which many believe references her 13-year conservatorship that was terminated in November 2021. Spears admitted that she hasn't "been the same since" being confined against her will, linking her current health issues directly to that traumatic experience.

While the ...Baby One More Time star portrays herself as having it all together on social media, she clarified that "there are a lot of people who don't know what [her] body physically went through." The nerve damage appears to be localized to the right side of her body based on her descriptions. Despite opening up about her challenging journey in her recent memoir The Woman In Me, Spears says, the "trauma is still there and probably will always be." She knows she can have bad days emotionally, writing, "It's okay to be upset some days or not be okay," but laments that society hasn't allowed her to express that reality, as per The Daily Mail.

The constant scrutiny and negativity from the media has Spears feeling "bullied" and that "it's not fair." In an incredibly vulnerable admission, the pop princess says all she can do is "try to be awakened by prayer" to find the strength to forgive those who caused the "serious nerve damage" she experiences, specifically calling out having to forgive her parents Lynne and Jamie Spears. "I have to be the bigger person and forgive my own parents...but that's extremely hard!!!" she states, showing just how deep the wounds from her conservatorship run. as per Yahoo!

Spears' nerve damage revelations come on the heels of her sharing that she had broken her foot earlier in May after a dancing incident at the Chateau Marmont hotel in Los Angeles. The singer downplayed the injury at first, joking she was an "idiot" for attempting a leap inside and embarrassing herself by falling. But a week later she revealed disturbing photos of her massively swollen, bruised foot, admitting she had been "walking on a broken foot" but had stubbornly refused medical treatment by wearing heels and continuing to dance.

The nerve damage appears to be an ongoing issue Spears has grappled with for over a year. In 2022, she first opened up about experiencing numbness, pins-and-needles sensations, stinging pain, and an inability to get enough oxygen to her brain - all apparently stemming from the trauma of being confined against her will in 2019. While dancing provided temporary relief, she worried there was "no cure" for the damage.