Hollywood pressure and teen bullying scars behind Demi Lovato time-out

Hollywood pressure and teen bullying scars behind Demi Lovato time-out

Disney star Demi Lovato voluntarily entered a treatment facility to fix “emotional and physical issues”, a statement made by the singer-actress said on Monday. Details of her problems were not stated.

A source by the Associated Press said that the 18-year old “Camp Rock” star had an eating disorder and has been cutting herself, but the source later retracted and said all those issues had been in the past.

“Demi has decided to take personal responsibility for her actions and seek help,” the statement said. “She is doing just that. Demi and her family ask that the media respect her privacy during this difficult time.”

Lovato left an international tour with the Jonas Brothers sometime during the weekend to check herself into a treatment center.

Her father Patrick Lovato seems to have expected her daughter’s troubles, who said, “There are a lot of pressures. That is one of the things I worried about when she signed with Disney. It’s just going to happen.”

But he also expressed optimism for her daughter’s recovery, saying, “She’ll be fine, she is very strong.”

An AP article in 2009 said that Lovato had struggled to cope with being bullied in middle school.

“It was more verbal harassment than physical abuse, but that’s actually more scarring than anything,” Lovato said then. “And I had to leave because I just couldn’t deal with it. And I’ve home-schooled ever since.”

Lovato had a relationship with “Camp Rock” co-star Joe Jonas but the two broke up and said that they remain on friendly terms with each other.

Posted by Kade Quinn on Wednesday November 03 2010, 6:23 AM EST. Ref: USA Today. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Entertainment, Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0