Flashback Friday

The successful Demi we know and love has not always been this way. By 2010, Demi was at the top of her game. In 2007 she landed the lead role in both, Disney Channel's original movie Camp Rock and TV series Sonny with a Chance. Within the same year she joined the Jonas Brothers' Burnin' Up Tour and then went on her own Demi Live! Warm Up Tour to promote her new Don't Forget album. Don't Forget hit number 2 on the Billboard 200 with more then 89,000 copies sold within the first week. In 2009 she released her second album, Here We Go Again, which hit number 1 on Billboard 200. Later that year she went on her first international tour in South America and then joined the Jonas Brothers Live in Concert tour as a special guest. She filmed Camp Rock 2:The Final Jam which premiered in September 2010. She was going on tours, acting in movies and TV shows, and even guest starring in a number of shows such as Grey's Anatomy. It seemed like there was nothing stopping her at this point; she had a few years of real success and most people thought it would continue.

However, on October 30, 2010, Demi dropped out of the Jonas Brother Live in Concert tour to check herself into a treatment facility. While on tour, there were rumors that she punched one of her back up dancers. It was after this moment that her family held an intervention and advised her to get help. Demi needed to confront her physical and emotional issues that were building up inside. While in the treatment facility, Timberline Knolls, her doctors discovered a number of different issues she had been dealing with. They diagnosed her with bipolar disorder during her treatment and that everything was finally coming out at this point in her life. All the pressures of being famous and having to manage the number of different projects she was involved in eventually caused her to break. Demi, who wanted to be honest with her fans and the public, admitted to some personal problems: she was bulimic and self-harming herself. She was also slightly abusing alcohol and drugs, which she considered helped her numb the pain and helped her deal with all the pressure. She also admitted to having a nervous breakdown while in treatment. Later on after getting help, she took full responsibility for the incident with her back up dancer.

Where most famous people would try to hide these issues, Demi was open about the whole process. Obviously she was not in contact with the public while she was in treatment, but after, she was not ashamed and did not try to hide it. She immediately agreed to a documentary about her and the struggles that led to her stint in rehab. The documentary is called Stay Strong and it aired in March 2012. Being honest with her fans caused a great comeback for her. If anything, it made people love her more. While she was in the treatment center, a group of fans started a Tumblr website called "Letters to Demi Lovato". On this website people posted their personal stories about how Demi helped them through their darkest times. Many young girls, and some boys, wrote letters about how Demi gave them the courage to come clean with their struggles. In some ways she saved many lives. When people didn't think they had the strength to keep going, they posted how Demi's strength is what got them through. When she got out of treatment, Demi tweeted about how her mom printed every letter (and there were thousands of them) and put them in a scrapbook for her. She is an inspiration to many people because of her honesty.

By January 2011, Demi was out of the treatment center. At this point she decided she was not going to return to her TV show, Sonny with a Chance, because she wanted to stay off camera for a while and just focus on music. One of the major causes of her bulimia and insecurities was that she was constantly in front of a camera. She felt that she always needed to look skinny and perfect. She also got a tattoo on both her wrists, where she used to cut herself, with the saying "Stay Strong." While she was in rehab her fans were writing that saying on their wrists for her, and posting their pictures online. This inspired her to get the tattoo in honor of her fans.

Demi has been on a remarkable journey. Since her time in the treatment she has released two more albums, joined the judge panel on The X Factor, and has done a number of tours. On her album Unbroken, the album that she wrote while she was in treatment, she had written a few songs about staying strong. Her single "Skyscraper" won the "Best Video With a Message" at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards. As of now, Demi is continuing on with her career and helping her fans along the way.