Demi Lovato’s a warrior! The former Disney star and self-proclaimed positive role model, 22, spoke out on Twitter against the common misconceptions facing those dealing with eating disorders on Wednesday, Nov. 12.
PHOTOS: Demi Lovato through the years
“Having an eating disorder doesn’t show ‘strength.’ Strength is when are able to overcome your demons after being sick and tired for so long,” she began. “Starving is not a ‘diet’ and throwing up isn’t something that only extremely thin men or women do. Eating disorders do not discriminate..Neither does any other mental illness. These are deadly diseases that are taking lives daily. So please, let’s be cautious of the words we use when discussing ED’s and other mental illnesses.”
The “Heart Attack” singer also talked about how the public perceives those who have eating disorders.
“There’s a wide misconception that anorexia and/or bulimia is a choice and you often hear people say things like ‘why doesn’t she just start eating?’ Or even ‘just stop throwing up,’” she continued. “It’s the ignorance and lack of education on mental illnesses that continues to [p]ut mental health care on the back burner to congress even though this is an epidemic that is sweeping our nation, and causing more and more tragedy every day.”
This isn’t the first time Lovato has spoken out in support of those suffering from an eating disorder. Back in March, Wilmer Valderrama’s love bashed Lady Gaga for “glamorizing eating disorders” when the “Applause” singer had “vomit painter” Millie Brown force herself to throw up on her on stage at the SXSW music festival. And in December 2011, Lovato caused The Disney Channel to issue a formal apology after its show Shake It Up made a joke about anorexia. The on-air quip came shortly after Lovato left the channel to go to rehab, prompting her to tweet, “I find it really funny how a company can lose one of their actresses from the pressures of an EATING DISORDER and yet still make joke about that very disease….. #nice.”
Lovato, who has openly admitted to struggling with bipolar disorder and substance abuse problems in addition to her eating disorder, proudly posted a comparison split after this year’s MTV VMAs in August.
“I remember the day I wore the dress in the very first picture,” Lovato wrote on Facebook, referencing her 2008 VMA look. “I remember asking for spanx to flatten my stomach because I use to feel so heavy and ‘fat’. Now looking at this picture, you can clearly see my hip bones. It makes me sad because I wasted so many years ashamed of my body when I could’ve been living the happy and healthy life I live today.”
