Demi Lovato Opens Up About Eating Disorder In Documentary & How It Changed Her Life

Demi Lovato has had an amazing year. With the release of her new album, performances all over the world, and a more dedicated fanbase than ever, Lovato is on top. But it hasn't always been so easy. The "Sorry Not Sorry" singer has had a long journey to success with lots of struggles along the way, and she's not afraid to admit it. In her new documentary, Simply Complicated, Demi Lovato opens up about her eating disorder and her many struggles with it, and it's so, so brave and heartbreaking. The 25-year-old Grammy nominee took to her Instagram story on Tuesday, Oct. 17 to share before and after photos of her personal struggles with an eating disorder to kickstart the release of her documentary.

Lovato has been honest and open about her issues with binging and purging, which started in her youth and took over her life. In Simply Complicated, Lovato shares stories of loneliness, depression, addiction, and hardship with body issues throughout her life.

Lovato explained to her manager,

When I feel lonely, my heart feels hungry and then I end up binging and I don’t know how to figure out how to be alone. One thing that I haven’t fully conquered is my eating disorder.

In the documentary, Lovato also admitted to her nutritionist, “Food is still the biggest challenge in my life. It’s something that I’m constantly thinking about.”

The former Disney star bravely discussed the importance of honesty and openness with personal battles. She shared her complicated relationship with food and said,

I would bake cookies for my family and I would eat all of them and nobody would have any to eat. That was my first memory of food being that medicine for me. Body image, what I’m going to eat next, what I wish I could be eating, what I wish I didn’t eat. It’s just constant. Like I get envious toward people that don’t struggle with an eating disorder just because I feel like my life would be so much easier.

Lovato also admitted to her difficult past with drugs and alcohol. She remarked,

My first time doing coke, I was 17 working on Disney Channel, and I was with a couple of friends and they introduced me to it. I was scared because my mom always told me that your heart could just burst if you do it. But I did it anyways and I loved it. I felt out of control with the coke the first time that I did it.

Lovato is laying it all out there, and fans everywhere are applauding her for it. The documentary is also incredibly eye-opening and inspiring. It's proof Lovato has been through it all, and is still charging full speed ahead. Lovato also opened up about her bipolar disorder and her difficulty dealing with it. She said,

I was 18 when I first went into treatment. When I got diagnosed with bipolar disorder, it just made sense. When I was younger I didn’t know why I would stay up so late writing and playing music, and then I learned about episodes of mania and I realized that’s probably what it was. I was manic. In a way, I knew that it wasn’t my fault anymore. Something was actually off with me.

Watch the Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated documentary on YouTube for more about the singer's past struggles and how she found her way through some of the darkest of times.

Check out the entire Gen Why series and other videos on Facebook and the Bustle app across Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV.