Demi Lovato has used her experience and celebrity to shine a light on mental health issues, including her struggles with addiction, an eating disorder and other mental health issues. If you do a quick Google search on Demi Lovato, you’ll likely find just as many articles discussing Demi Lovato’s mental health as her songs.
Demi Lovato’s Career
Demi Lovato was born in 1992 and has two sisters. Her career in the spotlight started early, likely because her mother was a former country music artist. At just 10 years of age, Lovato got her first big role on Barney and Friends. After that, she saw success with roles in the shows Just Jordan, Prison Break, the Disney Channel’s Camp Rock and Sonny With a Chance.
In September 2008, Demi Lovato released her first album called Don’t Forget. The album saw huge success, and Lovato transitioned from acting to singing. She has released three albums to date, with several top hit singles.
While Lovato focuses on singing, she’s dabbled in some acting and television gigs with appearances on Will & Grace (the reboot), Project Runway, RuPaul’s Drag Race, Glee, The X Factor, From Dusk to Dawn and the Voice of Germany.
Demi Lovato’s Mental Health
Demi Lovato has a complicated history of mental health conditions. She has been quite vocal about her journey and hopes her transparency will help others who are struggling. The public mostly became aware of Demi Lovato’s mental health conditions in 2010. While on a singing tour with the Jonas Brothers, Lovato was involved in an altercation with a dancer, and the story made headlines. She checked into a rehab facility to cope with some of her issues. The world was shocked to learn that Demi Lovato struggled with mental illness.
Eating Disorders
During the early stages of her career, Demi Lovato’s health looked completely fine to outsiders. She was a typically thin celebrity. Unfortunately, the truth was far from that.
As an intelligent young woman, Lovato knew she had problems, but that didn’t mean she was ready to face them. She was quoted in an Elle Magazine article saying, “When I was bulimic, I knew it was a problem. When I was anorexic, I knew it was a problem. But I wasn’t in a place where I could quit by myself.” This so poetically illustrates the exact issues around mental health conditions. These conditions are not a choice and are challenging to overcome, even when the person knows they’re harming themselves. Professional guidance can make the journey to recovery less challenging and more sustainable.
Bipolar Disorder
In 2011, Demi Lovato’s condition was at an all-time low. She was increasingly self-harming and finally checked into a rehab center for help. It was during this stay that she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
For Lovato, her diagnosis came as a sense of relief. She told Women’s Health magazine, “I went into treatment and I was able to work with incredible doctors who helped me figure out that I was, in fact, bipolar. It was a great feeling to find out that there wasn’t anything wrong with me. I just had a mental illness.””
Her diagnosis gave her some insight into her behavior and provided a solution to her problems. With the right treatment and medication, she could live a healthy and normal life.
Many individuals who have not sought professional help are scared of what a diagnosis might mean for them. In reality, a diagnosis can often bring answers to questions a patient has been struggling with for a long time. Additionally, you can work with your mental health professional on a treatment plan that will help you conquer any side effects you dislike. A diagnosis is a helping hand, not a punishment.
Drug Addiction
Demi Lovato says that her bipolar diagnosis also helped her understand her issues with substance abuse. The feelings of intense depression and mania would leave her confused, and individuals who are confused “tend to self-medicate, which is exactly what I did.”
In this comment, Lovato is precisely right. Many people suffering from addiction have an undiagnosed mental health condition. These conditions can play into the addiction. That’s why it’s important to seek addiction treatment that includes individual therapy to catch any co-occurring disorders and treat those too.
Lovato’s birth father struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, and she actually sought to understand “what he searched for in drugs and alcohol.” Lovato shares that, in 2012, she was drinking vodka from a Sprite bottle at 9 in the morning while also abusing cocaine and other substances. In 2018, Lovato seemed to suggest that she had relapsed after six years of sobriety in a song she called “Sober.” A few months later, she suffered an overdose that made national headlines and later confirmed her relapse.
“Today I would’ve had seven years sober. I don’t regret going out because I needed to make those mistakes, but I must never forget that’s exactly what they were: mistakes.”
Addiction treatment is a lifelong journey, and relapse shouldn’t be seen as a failure. Many people relapse, but that doesn’t mean you should give up on living a healthy, sober life. Even with a relapse, Lovato has seen major success in treatment. You can see it in the accepting way she talks about her relapse. She knows it was a mistake and looks forward to her future. This is exactly the mindset that professional treatment can help individuals embrace ― one of acceptance in themselves and their journey.
Demi Lovato’s Spotlight on Mental Health Issues
During her years of struggles, Lovato has continued to be open about her mistakes. She doesn’t shy away from sharing her downfalls. Lovato uses her platform to showcase that anyone can have these problems and encourages people to seek the help they need. She hopes that by removing the stigma around addiction and mental health disorders, more people will have the courage to seek professional treatment when they need it. This is a perfect example of a celebrity using their platform for something meaningful.
FHE Health Can Help
If you’re struggling with addiction or a mental health condition, we can help. FHE Health is an addiction and treatment center that helps individuals reclaim their lives. Contact us today to understand our programs and how we can help you. Book an appointment by calling (833) 596-3502.
