Demi Lovato shares she was ‘so relieved’ to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder

"I had spent so many years struggling, and I didn't know why I was a certain way in dealing with depression at such extreme lows, when I seemingly had the world in front of me just ripe with opportunities," she said

By: Lifestyle Desk

New Delhi | May 13, 2023 06:20 PM IST

Demi Lovato opens up about her bipolar diagnosis (Source: Demi Lovato/Instagram)

Demi Lovato, the American singer, songwriter, and actor, has always been candid about her struggles with mental health, including bipolar disorder. In interviews and on social media, she has shared her journey with bipolar disorder and her efforts to manage the condition. Recently, during the Hollywood & Mind Summit, the 30-year-old once again opened up about her diagnosis and why she felt “so relieved” to understand the cause of her “extreme lows”.

“I was so relieved that I had finally had a diagnosis,” Lovato said. “I had spent so many years struggling, and I didn’t know why I was a certain way in dealing with depression at such extreme lows, when I seemingly had the world in front of me just ripe with opportunities.”

She went on to recall moments when she struggled to understand her feelings. “It was things like, I remember being 15 years old on a tour bus and watching fans follow my bus with posters and trying to get me to wave outside the window. And all I could do was just sit there and cry. And I remember being in the back of my tour bus watching my fans and crying and being like, ‘Why am I so unhappy?'” she said.

The singer explains that one of the reasons she shared her diagnosis of bipolar disorder publicly was because she wanted to create awareness and pass on her learnings to others. “I knew that if I could help others with their journey, then that’s exactly what I wanted to do. And so I decided to be open and honest about what I had finally learned about myself,” Lovato said.

During the event, she also explained why she ignores all comments on Instagram – even the positive ones. “If I see something negative, it’s going to hurt my feelings, and if I see something positive, it’s going to feed into that outside validation that I’ve worked so hard to not need, and that goes back to my child star days of needing outside validation,” Lovato said.

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However, her journey is still ongoing as the singer continues to grapple with gender expression. “I’m a very fluid person. My gender identity is sometimes fluid too. I identify more feminine on certain days and on other days, I identify more non-binary. I’m learning more about myself every day,” the Dancing With The Devil star said.

Bipolar disorder, according to Mayo Clinic, is a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings that include emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (depression).

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