Demi Lovato Reveals Her Struggle in Seeking Mental Health Treatment: 'I Felt Defeated'

Demi Lovato opened up about her struggle in seeking mental health treatments in the past. In a conversation with Dr. Charlie Shaffer at The Center For Youth Mental Health at New York-Presbyterian's annual benefit event, Lovato shared her experience in dealing with her mental health issues.

According to the former Disney channel actress, she has been to inpatient treatment five times.

"..It has something that every single time I walked back into a treatment center, I felt defeated," the actress recalled in the conversation, as quoted by People. "And I know that experience firsthand, but I think the glimmer of hope was when I started putting in the work and I started to, whether it was work, a program, or talk to my treatment team and build relationships there."

However, things started changing for Lovato. She said that the "glimmer of hope" started to change, and she found joy in the little things in life.

That was "foreign" to her because she was used to "not seeing hope."

Eventually, after she found her fifth inpatient health treatment, she "definitely felt different."

"It felt like I had hit rock bottom and I just knew what I needed to do, which was to live a life in recovery. And that was something that I pushed off for so long," Lovato shared.

However, at that point, the treatment wasn't enough, as she needed to get the "right medication."

"I think for me medication has helped me tremendously. It's helped so many people tremendously," Lovato continued. "And I think I had hit another low, and I was like, 'what am I doing wrong?' I felt defeated. But then, when all of the key parts started to fit into place like a perfect puzzle, I started to find the light again."

In the past, Lovato has revealed that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder at 18. She has also been open about her struggles in battling substance abuse issues, eating disorders, and even depression. In 2018, the singer-actress was hospitalized after suffering from a near-fatal heroin overdose.

"I feel like I am in control now, where my whole life I wasn't in control," Lovato said at the inaugural Hollywood & Mind Summit in May 2023, as quoted by People.

Lovato detailed at the time that if she had not sought treatment, she wouldn't find out that she had bipolar disorder.

"Looking back, it makes sense. 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," Lovato added.

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Demi Lovato