Demi Lovato - Bipolar, Singer, Advocate

Demi Lovato

Demetria Devonte aka Demi Lovato is an American singer, song writer and actress.  She was a child actress who retained her shine and talent transitioning from acting to singing and song writing.  But this glorious star has not been without her trials and has battled bipolar disorder for years.  While being very private about if for a long time the singer-actress-songwriter has opened up about her mental illness and is helping to fight the stigma associated with people suffering from similar afflictions of the mind.

Bipolar disorder is a serious long term mental ailment in which the victim has periods of low self-confidence and very opposite periods of exuberant energy or highs.  The disease can be treated with mood stabilizers which even out the sufferer’s mood to leave them more mellow and level headed.  It is also helpful to sit down with a professional to be able to talk about the issues afflicting the mind and heart of the sufferer.  

During the highs, the sufferer is unable to be beaten down.  They are happy cheerful and a source of joy to all the people around them.  It is also during these periods we can also see flashes of incredible genius.  It is also common to find that people with bipolar disorder are incredibly gifted individuals whose talent is unrivaled.  

However during the lows there is no picking them up.  The sufferer is easily saddened and deeply so by any occurrence and it is sadly around this time that often they take their own lives.  The low periods can last for hours of even weeks.  There is no science to calculate exactly how long this lasts.

The high and low moods can be triggered by a number of factors e.g. memories, smells that bring back certain memories and also the environment.  A large portion of teenagers and young people suffer from bi-polar disorder.  In today’s world it is not easy being a teenager or a young adult.  With the amount of influences that young people are bombarded with today, including suggestive programming on the TV and radio not to mention social media, it is little wonder that the pressure on the young mind has increased tenfold.

Peer groups also might not offer a source of support and the amount of abuse that comes from family who are sensitive about mental issues does not help either.  Often these pressures send the victim into a downward spiral of drugs and despair as they seek to self-medicate and find relief from their suffering.

There are two main types of bipolar disorder.  In the first it might begin with lows and in the other you get hypomania. The shocking number of people suffering from the disease is as much as 1 in 50 and although the cause is unknown it is been noted that it is prevalent in certain families and not in others.

Demi today uses her fame and popularity with teenagers and young adults to raise awareness about the disease.  She is part of ‘’Be Vocal’’, an initiative launched across America by the singer, which encourages people to use their voice (influence) to raise awareness on mental health problems.

In an interview with the Huffington Post she explained that a lot of mental health issues are not being discussed but people are willing and craving to talk about these issues.  She also sees mental illness as a physical illness in a way saying that the brain is a physical organ and the mental illness is an illness of the brain and hence it is a physical illness.  She raised this point when asked why people see a distinction between mental and physical illnesses.