People.Com tells us that for Kevin Federline, the very public struggles came with a private pain, as his 2006 divorce from Britney Spears triggered depression and overeating.

“Once you get depressed, you don’t really feel like doing anything,” Federline, 31, tells Access Hollywood. “You’re kind of discouraged about yourself and then the weight gain too, or that makes me more depressed. … I mean, it’s a combination of all of those things.”

The difference for Federline was that his troubles played out on a public stage.

“Everybody knows what happened with me and Brit,” he says. “I’m not going to say that’s the total cause of it but, I mean, just not being happy with myself was probably the main part of my depression.”

Now slimmed down thanks to his work on VH1′s Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp, Federline says his life is turning around, and that he now can be friends with Spears, 28, with whom he has two boys.

“I think as time goes on, it keeps getting better and better and better,” he tells Access Hollywood. “I mean, I’m really happy the way that my life is going right now, I really am. I think, you know, I have come a long way. All of us have…my whole family. It’s gotten so much better from where we were.”

With Spears touring again and her affairs under the control of her father, Federline says, “I’m really happy for her. I’m very happy for her.”

People.Com tells us that an upbeat Britney Spears went to court Friday with her father for a hearing in her ongoing conservatorship case.

The judge wanted to see the pop star face-to-face for a progress review since her father took legal control of her affairs following her mental breakdown two years ago.

Lawyers for the singer also sought court permission to auction off her 2008 MTV Video Music Awards dress to raise money for Haiti earthquake relief, as part of “property no longer useful for her estate.”

Spears “is very enthusiastic about the idea for a donation to Haiti,” her court-appointed attorney Samuel Ingham told the judge, adding that the singer “is appreciative of the extra time and effort” showed by the court in her ongoing case. The judge approved the dress donation.

The singer, 28, wore a gray jacket and black skirt with her hair dark brown and long with a few blonde streaks. She entered the courtroom at 1:45 p.m. from the judge’s hallway door following her father, Jamie.

Spears smiled at Ingham as she stood at the attorney table next to him. After Superior Court Commissioner Reva Goetz took the stand, Spears’s conservator lawyers requested to seal the courtroom because the hearing involved personal medical information.

The judge granted the request and ordered reporters and other audience members to leave for most of the two-hour session.

Experts say it’s normal procedure for the judge to want to check in with her. However, Spears won’t regain control of her own life until she proves to the court – backed by doctors’ opinions – that she’s able to manage her own affairs.