Alongside being a singer, Demi Lovato has made a name for herself as an advocate for mental health. Earlier this year, the 24-year-old received the Artistic Award of Courage for her continued efforts to destigmatize mental illness, and launched the "Be Vocal: Speak Up for Mental Health," back in 2015. However, just because the "Sorry Not Sorry" singer is loud and proud about her own mental health, which include a past with disordered eating and being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, she doesn't want that to be the only thing that defines her.
"I think when people refer to me as being bipolar, it’s something that’s true – I am bipolar – but I don’t like people to use it as a label," she told Elvis Duran as part of iHeartRadio’s Label Defiers with ZICO Coconut Water. "It’s something that I have, it’s not who I am."
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However, this doesn't negate the importance of talking about it, especially because speaking about your mental health is still, for some reason, taboo.
"The more people know about it, the more people are going to be able to find solutions to what they’re going through," she explained. The reason Lovato finds it especially necessary to speak up is because she knows she has a large audience of young men and women listening to her — but really, she encourages everyone to be vocal.
"Your voice will be heard no matter what position you’re in," she said. "I just happen to be in a position where more people would hear my voice than they would have 10-15 years ago, so I use my voice to do more than just sing."
Rather than boiling her down to a diagnosis, Lovato would simply rather be known as an activist. Judging from all the hard work she's done so far, that word could not be more apt.
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