Demi Lovato Talks Teenage Tears On Her Tour Bus, New Documentary & Finding ‘Purpose’ In Mental Health Advocacy

etcanada.com:

As a teenager, Demi Lovato would sit on her tour bus in tears, questioning why she felt so miserable despite adoring fans gathering outside her windows expressing their love for her.

As she navigated the arduous path from child star to adulthood, her struggles escalated until the game-changing day she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. “I was so relieved I finally had a diagnosis [because] I spent so many years struggling,” Lovato, 30, told the Hollywood & Mind Summit at United Talent Agency in Beverly Hills, California, on Thursday evening. “I didn’t know why I was a certain way and I was dealing with depression and such extreme lows when I seemingly had the world in front of me ripe with opportunities.” READ MORE: Demi Lovato Says She’s ‘In A Really Good Place’ Right Now, Declares Love For Emo “I remember being 15-years-old on a tour bus and watching fans follow my bus with posters, trying to get me to wave outside the window, and all I could do was sit there and cry,” the actress and musician continued. “I remember watching my fans, crying, and being like, ‘Why am I so unhappy?’ Being able to finally have that diagnosis was relieving.” During the “Fireside Chat” session with Hollywood & Mind founder Cathy Applefeld Olson, Lovato also opened up about how the diagnosis ignited new purpose in mental health advocacy, how she prevents Instagram comments from affecting her, and the scars and struggles that child stardom left her with.

The perils of young fame are one focus of Lovato’s upcoming directorial debut, Child Star, a Hulu documentary spotlighting those who have been in the public eye from a young age. “It’s something I’m passionate about because I started out on Barney & Friends when I was eight-years-old