Demi Lovato Opens Up About Struggles With Depression, Other Illnesses

Jul 13, 2011, 14:17 by Sarah Long

Singer and former Disney star Demi Lovato talked with Ryan Seacrest about her struggle with bipolar disorder, anorexia, bulimia, and cutting.

"I was struggling with depression as early as 7 years old," she says, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. She admitted that even at such a young age, she experienced "suicidal thoughts and things like that which I knew was abnormal for a kid."

Lovato recognized the issue was aggravated by the many years she suffered without medication.

"Looking back I was unmedicated for so many years and it led to so many problems," she says. "It's a daily journey and it's definitely going to be a struggle that I'll have to deal with for the rest of my life."

The young star told Seacrest that although she sometimes gets frustrated with her struggles, she understands that she must take things day by day.

"Sometimes I'm just like, 'Why couldn't I have been born normal?' And it sucks, but that's how it is with addiction. It's going to be a daily battle and I'm not going to be perfect."

But lately, Lovato, whose single "Skyscraper" is is climbing iTunes charts, is feeling more optimistic about how she will deal with her disease in the future.

"Today I'm really happy, and I'm really excited about life," Lovato says. "I don't know what could happen tomorrow but I know that if something did happen tomorrow I would keep trying."