BREAKING NEWS: Dr. Phil diagnoses Britney's problem

(A&P) -- It has taken months and several visits to court, along with dozens of bizarre twists and turns, but the reason for Britney Spears' mental malfunctions has finally been diagnosed. It turns out that the pop star suffers from a condition known as multiple personality disorder (or dissociative identity disorder).

Multiple personality disorder (MPD) is a psychiatric disorder characterized by having at least one "alter" personality that controls behavior. The "alters" are said to occur spontaneously and involuntarily, and function more or less independently of each other.

"It has taken me many hours of contemplating and researching numerous suspicions, but I know with 100% certainty that Britney Spears can now finally receive the help she needs to return her to a normal state of mental being," says Dr. Phil McGraw. "It turns out that for her entire life she has been living a lie. Or at least half a lie."

So how did Dr. Phil figure come to this diagnosis? He tells us, "Once I realized that she won the Heisman Trophy and a national championship while playing tailback at Georgia in the 1980's, I knew exactly what the problem was."

Said her former coach, Vince Dooley: "That's all news to me. All I know is whatever personality he had when she had the football was the one I liked."

Victims of DID have usually experienced a severe, traumatic shock of some kind and most report being abused as children. Treatment for this illness involves integrating the various personalities into one and usually requires psychotherapy that may continue for years, according to Merck.

"Frankly I am amazed that she was able to carry the load for the Cowboys all those years under her other identity while still putting out chart-topping songs and touring the country filling arenas," says Dr. Phil. "Rather than making fun of her, the media needs to just appreciate what a superstar she really is and what she means to football fans everywhere."

Dr. Phil goes on to say that Britney's alter-ego uses the name "Herschel Walker" and pretends to be a large black man that claims to do thousands of sit-ups every day. McGraw says that they will also be working on her problem with exaggeration.

"I think her writing this book ('Breaking Free') is a great first step towards her recovery," says good friend Frank Ros, a Coca-Cola executive who played linebacker and was captain of Georgia's 1980 national championship team.

The book is expected to be on bookshelves in August. Shida Carr, the publicist, would offer no other details and declined to provide excerpts.