It seems that this Disney Channel sweetheart has been dealing with a lot of issues throughout her life, and although she is just 18, Demi Lovato has quite a story to tell. In an interview for ABC’s “20/20” Demi Lovato reveals some interesting and shocking things about her as well as the reason why she is leaving the Sunny With a Chance show.
Demi Lovato has known success from a relatively young age, and this singer/actress success has definitely left a negative print on her emotionally, as she reveals that she has been struggling with an eating disorder and cutting for years now. Demi states she has been struggling with unhealthy eating from the age of 8, when she started eating compulsively. Since then she has been alternating bulimia with severe eating restrictions, as well as cutting, until she decided it’s time to put an end to her problems and seek help. 
Childhood bullying seems to have triggered those inner punishments that affected her for several years. Kids were being mean to her and call her fat, and this meanness can affect everyone, especially young children. After developing an eating disorder, at the early age of 11 Demi Lovato has confronted a battle with cutting. She has been secretly hurting herself by cutting her wrist in order to punish herself. Demi Lovato stated: “It was a way of expressing my own shame, of myself, on my own body… 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. The only way that I could get instant gratification was through an immediate release on myself.”
It seems that there was a lot going on inside Demi Lovato, on an emotional level, and when things heated-up, on the tour with her ex-boyfriend Joe Jonas, Demi decided to check into rehab. It seems that the alleged physical confrontation between Demi and a backup dancer helped her realize that she needs to seek help. Demi said:
“I was performing concerts on an empty stomach.” “I was losing my voice from purging. I was self-medicating. I was not taking medication for depression, and I literally was so emotionally whacked out that I took it out on someone that meant a lot to me.”
After spending time in rehab, Demi Lovato has decided she was going to leave Disney’s “Sonny With a Chance” in order to get back and stay on track. Demi said this is just better for her, as she would just feel a lot of pressure from being in front of the cameras, and that would probably push her back to square one, and that is something she does not want. But fear not, Demi is not making a retreat, she is just redirecting her attention towards music, as she is still with Disney’s Hollywood Records. The show “Sonny With a Chance” will still go on, only without Demi, so you’ll still be able to have a laugh. Demi decided to tell her story as it may help others dealing with the same issues she has been struggling with.
We are quite happy that Demi has decided to care for her health and we wish her only the best!
Photos courtesy of Getty Images, PR Photos