02/05/2011-CELEB: Demi Lovato's Mental Health
Demi Lovato Interview: Teen Star Opens Up on Bulimia, Cutting Issues
Robin Roberts interviews Demi Lovato about her troubles and recovery. Heidi Gutman
By JANICE JOHNSTON
April 19, 2011
She's the best friend a generation has grown up with -- 18-year-old Demi Lovato is the Disney darling with the winning smile. She sang her way to the top of the pop charts and heights of wholesome teen icon status.
Yet Lovato's natural outward confidence in front of the camera could not protect her from the inner, lasting effects of childhood bullying. She sat down with ABC News' Robin Roberts to share her story of a lifetime of struggles.
"I've spoken openly about being bullied throughout the past few years, but one thing that I've never been able to feel comfortable talking about was the effects that it had on my life, afterwards," she said. "I literally didn't know why they were being so mean to me. And when I would ask them why, they would just say, 'Well, you're fat."
Her torment turned into a dangerous habit.
"I developed an eating disorder, and that's kind of what I've been dealing with ever since," she said.
Lovato began a lifelong struggle with bulimia and alternately, severely restricting her eating.
"I was compulsively overeating when I was eight years old," she said. "So, I guess, for the past 10 years I've had a really unhealthy relationship with food."
Her family helped her find professional help for her food issues. But there was a secret battle she fought alone, something she desperately hid from everyone: At age 11, Lovato began cutting herself -- intentionally self-mutilating her wrists as a way of coping with emotions.
Heidi Gutman/ABC News
Robin Roberts interviews Demi Lovato about her troubles and recovery.
"It was a way of expressing my own shame, of myself, on my own body," she told Roberts. "I was matching the inside to the outside. And there were some times where my emotions were just so built up, I didn't know what to do. The only way that I could get instant gratification was through an immediate release on myself."
It was a dangerous coping mechanism that continued throughout her teen years. Last summer, it all came to a boiling point during her concert tour with the Jonas Brothers for the Disney Channel musical, "Camp Rock 2." Disney is the parent company of ABC News.
"I was performing concerts on an empty stomach," she said. "I was losing my voice from purging. I was self-medicating. I was not taking medication for depression, and I literally was so emotionally whacked out that I took it out on someone that meant a lot to me."
Demi Lovato Takes '100 Percent, Full Responsibility'
Lovato admitted to physically striking one of her backup dancers, Alex Welch, during the South American leg of their international tour.
"I take 100 percent, full responsibility." Lovato told Roberts. "I feel horrible. [She] was my friend."
Lovato's family and management team held an intervention.
"They sat me down and said, 'You can't live like this,'" Lovato said.
She immediately quit the tour and checked in to Timberline Knolls -- a residential treatment center in Illinois for women battling addiction and eating disorders.
While in treatment, Lovato learned to alter her coping skills and found better ways to deal with her emotions.
"For the first time in my life, I started to feel," she said.
During the tough times in treatment, Lovato says it was the thought of her younger sister, Madison, who plays Juanita Solis, the daughter of Gabrielle on "Desperate Housewives," that got her through her darkest hours.
"A picture of my little sister, on my little bulletin board, was one of the main things that kept me going," she said. "I just kept thinking, 'OK, set this example for your little sister.'"
Lovato wanted to set an example -- not only for Madison, but for all the other women fighting the same issues.
"The real reason why I'm sitting down with you," she said, "is to open up the eyes of so many young girls, that it doesn't have to be this way."
Teen singer and actress Demi Lovato sat down with ABC News for her first television interview since leaving treatment for cutting and eating disorders. Watch Lovato share her story with Robin Roberts Friday at 10 p.m. on "20/20" and on "Good Morning America."
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/demi-lovato-interview-teen-star-opens-bulimia-cutting/story?id=13405090
That article does not mention it, but while in treatment she was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder:
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20483380,00.html
Demi Lovato: I Have Bipolar Disorder
By Sharon Cotliar
Wednesday April 20, 2011 04:00 PM EDT
Three months after leaving a residential treatment center, teen star Demi Lovato is bravely opening up about her private struggles - not only with anorexia and bulimia, but also with bipolar disorder.
"I never found out until I went into treatment that I was bipolar," Lovato told PEOPLE in a candid interview that took place last month in her L.A.-area home.
But during her three-month stay at a treatment center where she underwent therapy for anorexia, bulimia and cutting, Lovato, 18, who said she's "battled depression from a very young age," discovered why she was having trouble controlling her emotions and actions.
"Looking back it makes sense," she says of her diagnosis. "There were times when I was so manic, I was writing seven songs in one night and I'd be up until 5:30 in the morning."
"I feel like I am in control now where my whole life I wasn't in control," she adds.
The new revelation explains why when actress Catherine Zeta-Jones announced that she has bipolar II disorder, Lovato was quick to Tweet her support.
Now Lovato is taking the same brave step while discussing the "darkest time" in her life. "What's important for me now," she says, "is to help others."
For more about Lovato's fight to get healthy, her time in treatment and how she repaired her relationship with best friend Selena Gomez, pick up this week's issue of PEOPLE.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
She's in the May 2011 issue of 'Seventeen' magazine also.
If her speaking about her mental health encourages any young people to seek help with their troubles, that's a benefit. Good luck to her with recovery.
Robin Roberts interviews Demi Lovato about her troubles and recovery. Heidi Gutman
By JANICE JOHNSTON
April 19, 2011
She's the best friend a generation has grown up with -- 18-year-old Demi Lovato is the Disney darling with the winning smile. She sang her way to the top of the pop charts and heights of wholesome teen icon status.
Yet Lovato's natural outward confidence in front of the camera could not protect her from the inner, lasting effects of childhood bullying. She sat down with ABC News' Robin Roberts to share her story of a lifetime of struggles.
"I've spoken openly about being bullied throughout the past few years, but one thing that I've never been able to feel comfortable talking about was the effects that it had on my life, afterwards," she said. "I literally didn't know why they were being so mean to me. And when I would ask them why, they would just say, 'Well, you're fat."
Her torment turned into a dangerous habit.
"I developed an eating disorder, and that's kind of what I've been dealing with ever since," she said.
Lovato began a lifelong struggle with bulimia and alternately, severely restricting her eating.
"I was compulsively overeating when I was eight years old," she said. "So, I guess, for the past 10 years I've had a really unhealthy relationship with food."
Her family helped her find professional help for her food issues. But there was a secret battle she fought alone, something she desperately hid from everyone: At age 11, Lovato began cutting herself -- intentionally self-mutilating her wrists as a way of coping with emotions.
Heidi Gutman/ABC News
Robin Roberts interviews Demi Lovato about her troubles and recovery.
"It was a way of expressing my own shame, of myself, on my own body," she told Roberts. "I was matching the inside to the outside. And there were some times where my emotions were just so built up, I didn't know what to do. The only way that I could get instant gratification was through an immediate release on myself."
It was a dangerous coping mechanism that continued throughout her teen years. Last summer, it all came to a boiling point during her concert tour with the Jonas Brothers for the Disney Channel musical, "Camp Rock 2." Disney is the parent company of ABC News.
"I was performing concerts on an empty stomach," she said. "I was losing my voice from purging. I was self-medicating. I was not taking medication for depression, and I literally was so emotionally whacked out that I took it out on someone that meant a lot to me."
Demi Lovato Takes '100 Percent, Full Responsibility'
Lovato admitted to physically striking one of her backup dancers, Alex Welch, during the South American leg of their international tour.
"I take 100 percent, full responsibility." Lovato told Roberts. "I feel horrible. [She] was my friend."
Lovato's family and management team held an intervention.
"They sat me down and said, 'You can't live like this,'" Lovato said.
She immediately quit the tour and checked in to Timberline Knolls -- a residential treatment center in Illinois for women battling addiction and eating disorders.
While in treatment, Lovato learned to alter her coping skills and found better ways to deal with her emotions.
"For the first time in my life, I started to feel," she said.
During the tough times in treatment, Lovato says it was the thought of her younger sister, Madison, who plays Juanita Solis, the daughter of Gabrielle on "Desperate Housewives," that got her through her darkest hours.
"A picture of my little sister, on my little bulletin board, was one of the main things that kept me going," she said. "I just kept thinking, 'OK, set this example for your little sister.'"
Lovato wanted to set an example -- not only for Madison, but for all the other women fighting the same issues.
"The real reason why I'm sitting down with you," she said, "is to open up the eyes of so many young girls, that it doesn't have to be this way."
Teen singer and actress Demi Lovato sat down with ABC News for her first television interview since leaving treatment for cutting and eating disorders. Watch Lovato share her story with Robin Roberts Friday at 10 p.m. on "20/20" and on "Good Morning America."
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/demi-lovato-interview-teen-star-opens-bulimia-cutting/story?id=13405090
That article does not mention it, but while in treatment she was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder:
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20483380,00.html
Demi Lovato: I Have Bipolar Disorder
By Sharon Cotliar
Wednesday April 20, 2011 04:00 PM EDT
Three months after leaving a residential treatment center, teen star Demi Lovato is bravely opening up about her private struggles - not only with anorexia and bulimia, but also with bipolar disorder.
"I never found out until I went into treatment that I was bipolar," Lovato told PEOPLE in a candid interview that took place last month in her L.A.-area home.
But during her three-month stay at a treatment center where she underwent therapy for anorexia, bulimia and cutting, Lovato, 18, who said she's "battled depression from a very young age," discovered why she was having trouble controlling her emotions and actions.
"Looking back it makes sense," she says of her diagnosis. "There were times when I was so manic, I was writing seven songs in one night and I'd be up until 5:30 in the morning."
"I feel like I am in control now where my whole life I wasn't in control," she adds.
The new revelation explains why when actress Catherine Zeta-Jones announced that she has bipolar II disorder, Lovato was quick to Tweet her support.
Now Lovato is taking the same brave step while discussing the "darkest time" in her life. "What's important for me now," she says, "is to help others."
For more about Lovato's fight to get healthy, her time in treatment and how she repaired her relationship with best friend Selena Gomez, pick up this week's issue of PEOPLE.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
She's in the May 2011 issue of 'Seventeen' magazine also.
If her speaking about her mental health encourages any young people to seek help with their troubles, that's a benefit. Good luck to her with recovery.