Demi Lovato

Demi Lovato: I Have Bipolar Disorder

Cotliar, Sharon. Demi Lovato: I Have Bipolar Disorder. Retrieved from http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20483380,00.html

Demi Lovato has recently left a treatment facility, and is now speaking out about her eating disorders and her bipolar disorder. Demi spent three months in a treatment facility, and now explains that she was cutting herself, depressed, and suffering from a variety of eating disorders. Demi was the star of Disney's Sonny with a Chance and also had a very successful vocal career, touring with the Jonas brothers when she abruptly stopped to seek treatment.

I find this story incredibly sad, and though I know it applies to tweens *somehow*, I couldn't exactly figure out what I thought. Is Lovato a bad role model for kids because of all this? Or is Lovato inspiration, humanizing herself and bringing a tween/teen voice to the aforementioned disorders? I'm deciding to go with the positive slant. I think it is sad that she felt such pressure and sadness, possibly a lot of it due to the limelight. However, coming forward and talking about it might help tween/teen girls feeling similar. Lovato was still suffering from her break-up with Joe Jonas, and was crumbling under the pressure to be prettier, successful, etc. While every tween girl may not be dating a JoBro, the feelings are universal. Lovato brings up the point that she needed HELP. Eating disorders, cutting, depression -- these are not normal, acceptable things. If anything, I think her story may inspire young tweens to seek help or help others. Lovato humanizes the 'tween queens'; sometimes this humanizing process is looked down upon or happens in a negative way (a la Miley and salvia), but I feel Lovato's story is real and can be helpful.