With rare candor, Lovato chronicled recovery, relapse

NEW YORK » While most celebrities tend to hide their struggles with drugs and battles with depression, Demi Lovato not only acknowledged her issues, she’s shared them with the world.

Lovato has been an open book since she announced in 2010 that she was checking into a rehabilitation center to deal with an eating disorder, self-mutilation and other issues. Over the next eight years, she became a role model and bona fide pop star, releasing multi-platinum songs and albums that range from playful to serious with lyrical content about her battles with drugs and alcohol.

“(She) has found enormous success by addressing those issues, and not only addressing them when they were still fresh, but also continuing to speak about them as she had been sober for years. She’s always kind of keeping it at the forefront ... and showing people that it’s OK to be open about having struggles whether it’s mental health issues, substance abuse (or) body positivity,” said Jason Lipshutz, the editorial director at Billboard. “By opening herself up and sharing herself she has given the signal to a lot of people — either young listeners or adult listeners — that they can do the same.”

“Obviously she’s got an amazing voice and she’s got some great hooks and a lot of hit singles, but I think people really connect with that type of openness,” he added.

Lovato’s representative said in a statement Tuesday that the 25-year-old was awake and recovering with her family after the singer was reportedly hospitalized for an overdose. It came a month after she released a new song called “Sober,” indicating that she relapsed after six years of sobriety.

Lovato has chronicled her life and battles throughout the years, from her bisexuality to being bullied as a child to suffering from depression. She has said she’s used cocaine before interviews and drank alcohol in the morning out of a soda bottle to mask it. That candor has helped her become a role model for young women and men who have faced their own issues.

Actress Lili Reinhart, who appears in the hit CW Network series “Riverdale,” said she looked up to Lovato.

“When I was 14, she was an idol to me in how she spoke so openly about mental health. And now she continues to inspire thousands of young men and women with her body positivity messages,” the 21-year-old tweeted Tuesday.

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