LOS ANGELES – Britney Spears' friend Sam Lutfi told Barbara Walters in a phone call over the weekend that the pop star has been to a psychiatrist for "mental issues which are treatable," Walters said Monday on "The View."
Lutfi, described by Walters as Spears' "manager and very good friend," also said that Spears has been suffering from mood swings and has had trouble sleeping.
Lutfi also told Walters that Spears is in touch with her mother — who arrived in Los Angeles Sunday night — and that she has been very supportive.
Last week, a Superior Court commissioner ruled that Spears, 26, is to remain barred from seeing her sons Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1.
On Jan. 3, Spears refused to relinquish one of the children to her ex-husband Kevin Federline's bodyguard. Police were called and she wound up being hauled off to a hospital by paramedics.
The day after that incident, the commissioner suspended Spears' visitation rights and gave full custody to Federline, who at that time had temporary custody.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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