Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guides to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more
Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guides to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more
Demi Lovato has reflected on her growth following her fifth hospitalization for mental health treatment.
The 31-year-old singer spoke candidly about her mental health during a conversation with Dr. Charlie Shaffer while attending a benefit gala for NewYork-Presbyterian Church’s Youth Mental Health Center on Monday. peopleShe acknowledged that previous inpatient mental health treatment had been difficult.
“I’ve been to inpatient treatment five times, but every time I go back to the treatment centre I feel defeated,” she said.
Lovato explained that “something was clearly different” after she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for the fifth time, and shared how much she struggled at the time and the steps she took to improve her mental state.
“I felt like I’d hit rock bottom, and I knew what I had to do, which was to live a life of recovery, and that was something I’d been putting off for so long,” the Disney Channel alum added. “I also needed the right medication, and I think for me, medication helped a lot. Medication has helped a lot of people a lot.”
The “Confident” singer detailed how things started to turn around for the better, despite how much she was struggling mentally.
“And I think I hit rock bottom again. I thought, ‘What am I doing wrong?’ I felt defeated. But then all the important pieces started to fall into place like a perfect puzzle, and I started to see the light again.”
Lovato also acknowledged how making an effort and building connections with peers during her time at the treatment center was crucial in helping her feel more hopeful.
“I think it was when I started to build relationships with my work, my programs, and my treatment team that I saw the rays of hope,” she explained. “When I started to find joy in the little things in life, I think I started to see the rays of hope. That was totally foreign to me before, because I was so used to not seeing hope.”
Lovato also said that her mental condition is not her “identity,” noting that the first time she was hospitalized and treated for her mental condition, she realized that the experience didn’t define her identity. However, she acknowledged that those difficulties have shaped who she is today.
“Ceramics is part of who I am, and my struggles have shaped me into the ceramic works you see today, but it’s never been my identity since,” she explained. “I would say it’s just become something that makes me kind of interesting.”
This isn’t the first time Lovato has spoken about her mental health: during an appearance at the Hollywood & Mind Summit in LA last year, she reflected on her bipolar disorder diagnosis and why it was a huge relief for her.
“It was a relief to finally get a diagnosis,” she said at the event in May 2023. “I had suffered for so many years and didn’t understand why I was having to deal with such severe depression when there seemed to be so many opportunities in front of me.”
And she recalled moments when, as a teenager, she struggled to make sense of how she was feeling, like watching fans wave from the window of her tour bus.
“I remember being on a tour bus when I was 15 and fans were following the bus with posters and asking me to wave out the window, and all I could do was sit there and cry,” recalled Lovato, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2011. “I remember sitting in the back of the tour bus, looking at the fans and crying and thinking, ‘Why am I so unhappy?'”
If you’ve been affected by this article, you can contact the following organizations for support: Action Onaddiction, England, mental health, mental health. If you are in the United States, you can contact SAMHSA at the following link:https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline or call 1-800-662-4357
