Britney Spears taken from home to psychiatric ward

LOS ANGELES -- With Britney Spears whisked out of the public spotlight Thursday and committed to a hospital psychiatric ward, it's now up to a team of professional caregivers to reverse her seemingly endless downward spiral.

Spears, accompanied by more than a dozen police officers, was taken to the UCLA Medical Center before dawn Thursday in what one officer would only say was an effort to "get help" for the troubled pop star.

It was her second 72-hour commitment in four weeks, though her previous stay lasted less than two days and was followed by more strange episodes that have accompanied her divorce and bruising child custody battle.

The law allows a person to be placed on an involuntary psychiatric hold for up to 72 hours if they are believed to be a danger to themselves or others. Spears' mother, Lynne Spears, was seen leaving the medical center's psychiatric hospital about 5:30 a.m. Asked if her daughter was all right, she replied, "Yeah."