LOS ANGELES — When Demi Lovato was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, she was actually relieved.

“Growing up, I felt very, very depressed,” she said. “Even though I was playing concerts and living out my dream, I couldn’t tell you why I was upset.”

Demi Lovato has chosen to share her personal story through Be Vocal: Speak Up For Mental Health. The Associated Press

After a family intervention, she sought treatment and learned she has a mental illness. “I remember smiling and thinking great, OK, so there’s not anything wrong with me as a person,” she said in a recent interview. “It’s actually just a condition that I have and I can do something to fix it. I don’t have to be like this forever.”

Lovato is sharing her story and encouraging others to do the same through Be Vocal: Speak Up For Mental Health, an initiative launched Thursday by a pharmaceutical company, the National Alliance on Mental Illness and other mental-health advocacy groups. Its aim is to improve treatment options at all levels and erase the stigma of mental illnesses.

“It’s not something that anyone should be ashamed of,” Lovato said. “The more people talk about it, the more people can come out and get the help they need.”

Be Vocal is as much about sufferers voicing their treatment needs as it is about families and communities speaking up for better resources to meet those needs, she said.

The 22-year-old entertainer said she’s recording a new album and she’ll continue to advocate for mental health, to make depression and other mental illnesses as easy to discuss as diabetes or the flu.

Related Stories