Why Demi Lovato Spoke Publicly About Her Time in Rehab | E! News

I didn't have a role model at 13 and I was like I need to be that role model for someone else. Demi Lovato was opening up about her sobriety journey during the October 22nd episode of Las Culturistas. The singer addresses why she decided to be so public about her decision to go to rehab following one of her quote outbursts as a teenager. I had a decision that had to be made when I had gone to treatment for the first time. I had this very public outburst and when I was 18 and which I talk about in some of my documentaries but god there's so many and in that moment my manager at the time asked me like do you want to be public with what you're going through or do you want to sweep it under the rug and not talk about it which you will have a right to both you don't have you don't owe anybody anything but I was like I didn't have a role model at 13 that was speaking up about eating disorders and I was like I I need to be that role model for someone else. And Demi goes on to say how a younger role model would have been helpful at that age due to the quote beauty standards she felt like she had to live up to. I wish that I could have had that growing up like there were older actresses that had come out and talked about talked about having an eating disorder but nobody that I could relate to at 13. Yeah especially at the time when the beauty standards were you know very very dangerous um and so I wanted to be that for other people and that's kind of the catalyst for why I've been open about all of my struggles is in that moment when I made that decision it set the tone for the rest of my life of like you know I I want to help people and the best way that I know how is sharing my personal experience with The Disney alum has previously been open about her mental health and battle with addiction dating back to her teenage years. In fact she recently shared that she has little recollection of her life after the release of the 2008 film Camp Rock in which she co-starred alongside the Jonas Brothers. Telling the Hollywood Reporter in August 2024, I think I'd passed the threshold of what I could withstand emotionally and physically. I didn't realize that child stardom could be traumatic and it isn't traumatic for everyone but for me it was. Demi went on to describe her quote worry over how she treated those around her amid her struggles. It's easy to excuse that behavior because I was so young and in so much pain but I'm really remorseful and that's a guilt that stays with you forever.