Demi Lovato Admits: I Have Bipolar Disorder

Demi Lovato is continuing to open up about her recent stint in rehab and the basis for her stay there.
First, the singer/actress admitted she's battled an eating disorder for years, later adding that she's cut herself since the age of 11 and is leaving Sonny with a Chance to battle these demons.

Now, the 18-year is opening up again to the public, making an admission to People: "I never found out until I went into treatment that I was bipolar," she tells the magazine. "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."
Last week, Catherine Zeta-Jones sought professional help for the same disease, as Demi Tweeted her support of that star. She says she's taking positive steps in her life to turn things around.
"I feel like I am in control now where my whole life I wasn't in control... What's important for me now is to help others."
[Photo: WENN.com]

Demi Lovato to Leave Sonny With a Chance

Demi Lovato is leaving Sonny With a Chance, the show that's made her a star on the Disney Channel. She'll instead focus on her pop career - and recovery.
Given the actress sought treatment recently for "physical and emotional issues," and confessed to cutting herself since age 11, a change might do her good.
"It made sense for me to go ahead and leave the show to focus on my music," Lovato tells People. "It's sad for me that a chapter of my life has ended."
"However, there couldn't be a better time for me to move on."

The "nervous breakdown" she suffered last October while touring with the Jonas Brothers - an episode that led her to check into rehab is still fresh in her mind.
"I don't think going back to Sonny would be healthy for my recovery," admitted the 18-year-old actress. "Being in front of a camera would make me nervous."
In a frank interview with ABC's Good Morning America and 20/20 set to air Friday, Lovato acknowledges a lifelong struggle with an eating disorder and cutting.
Hopefully she continues to get the help she needs to live a happier and healthier life, and moving on from Sonny With a Chance is the best means to do so.
[Photo: WENN.com]

Demi Lovato: Cutting Herself Since Age 11!

We've known Demi Lovato is a "cutter," but the recent revelation that she began to slit her wrists and mutilate herself at age 11 is startling.
Now 18, Demi opened up to 20/20 about her recent stint in a treatment center, where she was treated for cutting, bulimia and emotional issues.
Cutting is "a way of expressing my own shame, of myself, on my own body," according to Demi, who adds she's been overeating since age eight.

Demi Lovato has also experienced - and been shaped by - bullying.

"I've spoken openly about being bullied throughout the past few years," she says.
"But one thing that I've never been able to feel comfortable talking about was the effects that it had on my life, afterward. I 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 lifelong disease, and one dangerous habit after another.
"I developed an eating disorder, and that's kind of what I've been dealing with ever since," she said. "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," Demi Lovato says of spiraling out of control.
"The only way that I could get instant gratification," she chillingly notes, "was through an immediate release, and taking it out on myself."
During the interview, Lovato also says she takes "100 percent, full responsibility" for attacking her back-up dancer Alex Welch last year:
"I feel horrible, [She] was my friend."
Lovato says she hopes her story can "open up the eyes of so many young girls" who are fighting the same issues. We hope it does, too.
[Photo: WENN.com]