Demi Lovato has reflected on feeling a “responsibility” to share her personal health struggles publicly when she was younger.

Demi Lovato has reflected on feeling a “responsibility” to share her personal health struggles publicly when she was younger.

Speaking on the latest episode of the Las Culturistas podcast on Wednesday, the Skyscraper singer opened up about the decision to talk openly about past experiences with mental health issues, eating disorders, and substance use.

Demi, who uses she/her and they/them pronouns, explained that the turning point came when she entered a treatment programme at the age of 18. The decision followed an incident in 2010 when she punched backup dancer Alex Welch during a tour with the Jonas Brothers.

“I had a decision that had to be made when I had gone to treatment for the first time,” they told co-hosts Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers. “I had this very public outburst when I was 18… 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?’”

Although her manager assured her that the choice was entirely hers, Demi felt that being honest was the right path.

“I was like, ‘I didn’t have a role model at 13 that was speaking up about eating disorders, and I need to be that role model for someone else.’ It was this responsibility that I was willing to take on because I wish that I could have had that growing up,” the 33-year-old shared.

Demi is preparing to release her ninth studio album It’s Not That Deep on Friday.