“I think the glimmer of hope was when I started putting in the work,” Lovato said at the Center For Youth Mental Health’s annual benefit.
The 31-year-old singer was honest about how her relationship with herself has progressed after five in-patient mental health treatments during a discussion with Dr. Charlie Shaffer, Anna Wintour’s son, on Monday night at The Center For Youth Mental Health at NewYork-Presbyterian‘s annual benefit.
“I have been to inpatient treatment five times, and it has something that every single time I walked back into a treatment center, I felt defeated,” the actress said at the event hosted by Wintour, Tory Burch, Dr. Steven J. Corwin, and Dr. Zandy Forbes.
“And I know that experience firsthand, but I think the glimmer of hope was when I started putting in the work and I started to, whether it was work, a program, or talk to my treatment team and build relationships there.”
“I think the glimmer of hope started to change when I started to find joy and the little things in life. And that was so foreign to me before because I was so used to, so used to not seeing hope,” she continued.
She emphasized that she”definitely felt different” after her fifth in-patient mental health treatment.
“It felt like I had hit rock bottom and I just knew what I needed to do, which was to live a life in recovery. And that was something that I pushed off for so long,” she shared.
“I also needed the right medication. I think for me medication has helped me tremendously. It’s helped so many people tremendously,” continued Lovato. “And I think I had hit another low, and I was like, ‘What am I doing wrong?’ I felt defeated. But then, when all of the key parts started to fit into place like a perfect puzzle, I started to find the light again.”
“It wasn’t until I went into treatment for the first time that I realized this isn’t who I am. It’s just a part of what makes me me, meaning my struggles have shaped me into the pottery that you see today, but it’s never become my identity since then. It’s just become something about me that makes me a little interesting, I guess you could say,” she said, noting that she’s “grateful for the things that I’ve been through and what I’ve overcome.”
Lovato said that getting treatment has allowed her to learn that her mental health is not her “identity.”
