Manager says: Spears has 'mental issues'

Britney Spears' manager and “very good friend” is said to of contacted Barbara Walters to tell her that Spears has seen a psychiatrist.

Lufti told her that the pop singer “is suffering from what he describes as mental issues which are treatable,” Walters said Monday on “The View.”

"He said that she has been to a psychiatrist and that she, I assume, is starting some kind of treatment," said Walters.

"She has been having mood swings. She's been having trouble sleeping, and also she is in touch with her mother -- 'cause we had heard she wasn't -- and her mother has been very supportive of whatever it is that Britney is going to do," said Walters, one of the co-hosts on the ABC daytime talk show.

Lufti has been seen with Spears, and is staying with her constantly, "and he got in touch with us," Walters said. "I can't vouch for this, he seemed to be very knowledgeable and he certainly was very nice."

Sorrell Trope, Spears' attorney, did not immediately return the phone calls seeking comments Monday. Neither did Gina Orr, Spears' spokeswoman at Jive Records.

Spears has been in a constant downard spiral since filing for divorce from Kevin Federline in November of 2006. Some of her crazy public antics include attacking a car with an umbrella, and shaving her head.

The 26-year-old pop star was recently taken to a Los Angeles hospital by paramedics earlier this month, after police were called to her home because of an argument involving her two sons. She has lost custody and visitation rights with the boys.

Spears reportedly has had an uncertain relationship with her mother, Lynne Spears, whose book about raising her family in the spotlight was put on hold after her younger daughter, Jamie Lynn, 16, announced she is pregnant.

Spears reportedly has had a rocky relationship with her mother, Lynne Spears, whose book about raising her family in the spotlight was put on indefinite hold last month after younger daughter, Jamie Lynn, 16, announced that she is pregnant.