Britney Spears shaves head. The next Syd Barrett?

To think of all the possible topics I could return to my blog with, it's about Britney Spears' shaved head. But it's something I was thinking about this morning and felt that it would be important to express some opinions I have on it.

The general opinion is Spears needs help.

Jupiter psychologist Dr. Nancy Vrechek says Spears' actions may be due to postpartum depression.

"Obviously, she's under some kind of extreme distress and people are speculating," says Vrechek. "But she could be in postpartum depression, experiencing extreme stress with a divorce and the paparazzi. People need to be a little more sympathetic.

If Spears is going through some sort of depression, or even some form of schizophrenia, she could be heading down the same path as Syd Barrett.

There is the story where Syd turns up during the Wish You Were Here sessions with shaved head and looking like a vagrant wondering the recording studios.

According to drummer Nick Mason's book Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett actually turned up at the studio in the middle of a recording session on 6 June 1975, which was also the day David Gilmour married his first wife, Ginger according to the book Saucerful of Secrets: The Pink Floyd Odyssey. Barrett hadn't been seen by any of the band members in five years. He arrived unannounced, his head completely devoid of hair (including eyebrows, as alluded to in The Wall film) and had put on so much weight that most of the band did not recognise him at first. Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley (who was a guest at Gilmour's wedding reception) mistook him for a Hare Krishna devotee. Others were close to tears at the transformation: Waters later confided that he cried.

Barrett disappeared after that. A picture of him would turn up now and again until his death in July 2006, but for the most party, after the media left him alone, he vanished from the paparazzi. He did little from 1971 to 1975 anyway.

One can argue the same about Britney Spears. She gets tons of publicity right now and hasn't done anything that made her a star. It's time to stop giving this girl attention. Let her get the help she needs before she turns into a Syd Barrett.