Introduction
The public figure selected for analysis in this paper is Demi Lovato, a famous American singer, and songwriter. Their full name is Demetria Devonne Lovato, and she was born on August 20, 1992, in New Mexico to Dianna and Patrick Lovato. The parents divorced when Lovato was only two years old in 1994. This renowned artist states in a documentary that they had a rough childhood because their father, who was an alcoholic, was constantly beating their mother. After the divorce, the mother remarried, and the birth father, who always said he hoped the best for the family, was happy. The reason for his contentment, as Lovato says, was that the stepdad would take care of them. Lovato had no relationship with the real dad, and the two were separated until 2013 when he died of mysterious circumstances. The strained relationship with their father caused Lovato to develop loads of traumas resulting in personality changes, as she later narrates. This paper narrates Demi Lovato’s life and from her life experiences comes up with diagnostics for her condition. In doing so studies from various authors will be considered.
Demo Lovato was raised in a family that loved music and rose to prominence at a young age. The mother, Dianna, was a former cheerleader, while the stepfather was a musician. Starting from 2002, Lovato was an actress featuring in a sitcom called Barney & Friends while she was just six years old. Her fame skyrocketed when Disney Channel hired her, and she was featured in movies such as Camp Rock, where she performed a song called This is Me. This song made Lovato feature in the Billboard 100 and opened an opportunity for her to get a contract with Hollywood Records (Meinawati, 2018). Therefore, Lovato combined music and acting in her early career but focused more on music as her career progressed.
Psychologically and emotionally, the life of Demi Lovato has been full of challenges. When she was in high school, she was constantly bullied, an act that made her drop out of school. The superstar has struggled with alcoholism for a long time and was taken for their first rehabilitation in 2010. The musician has been diagnosed with other disorders, such as the initial eating disorder. Lovato was involved in a fistfight with a backup dancer when they were on one of their tours. It has been said that the singer was high on cocaine when the fight occurred. The former child star was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Due to her alcoholism, Lovato joined the sober house back in 2013, where they gained some control. Lovato managed to stay sober for over six years and became a symbol for fighting drugs and addiction (Hearon, 2022). This was mainly because of the pressure exerted on the musician to perform and the attention the artist was constantly given (Sansone & Sansone, 2014). However, in 2018 her condition relapsed, and Lovato announced this in a song where she said she was sorry to her momma she was not sober anymore.
Diagnostics
Demi Lovato was diagnosed with bipolar disorder during their time at Timberline Knolls, and my belief is the diagnostics were accurate because of the traits she portrayed. Studies show that bipolar disorder is often portrayed by extended periods of depression, euphoria, and constantly irritable moods. When the musical fought with her dancer, it portrayed that Demi Lovato had the disorder. As common with people having bipolar conditions, there are always social and occupational challenges, and the star has had to struggle with both situations. There are three types of bipolar conditions. Bipolar 1 is commonly known as manic disorder (Zarein et al., 2020). This condition is accompanied by suicidal thoughts, a need to hurt oneself and others, and constant mood swings between emotional highs and emotional lows (Shedlosky-Shoemaker, 2022). The life of Demi Lovato shows that she had this type of disorder as her symptoms revolved around the mentioned ones.
The second type of bipolar disorder is referred to as Bipolar II Disorder, expressed through recurrent hypomanic and depressive episodes. It is milder when compared to other bipolar conditions, and the depressive episodes last for about a week, followed by the hypomanic episodes, which last for a period of about four days. The conditions and the confessions that the artist made do not show any evidence of having this kind of disorder. The last type of bipolar disorder is Cyclothymic disorder, where a person alternates between periods of hypomania and depression lasting longer than two years.
From the information that Demi Lovato presents, a person can safely argue that she is facing borderline personality disorder. This type of psychological condition is characterized by being emotionally unstable, showing vulnerability, being constantly overwhelmed, constant periods of rage episodes, and being depressive and self-destructive (Corrigan. et al., 2021). Demi Lovato shows emotional instability by falling back into the use of drugs even after deliberately trying to keep them off for years. She demonstrates vulnerability by living a kind of life that would make her die young, as she says. The musician exhibits this weakness by having relapses in her mind before it happens physically. Lovato had a busy schedule, and therefore she showed signs of being emotionally overwhelmed, causing her to want to take drugs for relaxation. This tiredness is demonstrated earlier when Lovato was in school, and she could not take being bullied hence choosing to be homeschooled (Hearon, 2022). Another symptom of borderline personality disorder is the need for a person to be rageful, demonstrated by the artist’s constant fights. The musical portrays signs of being out of control, taking drugs then falling into depressive episodes. All these traits fit the condition of this disorder, and it would be accurate to categorize Lovato as a person with the aforementioned condition
Conclusion
Based on Demi Lovato’s experiences, it can be seen she has and continues to struggle with anger, addiction, and depression, among other issues. Her state indicates that she is experiencing the Bipolar I condition, which is called manic depression. The artist suffers from borderline personality disorder, where she undergoes episodes of unstable emotional conditions and feelings of prolonged euphoria. Her crisis does require treatment, and viable options include family therapy, where her family members like her sister could try to help her. The artist could also try Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, where a therapist or a psychotherapist would work with her and help her see things more clearly. This type of treatment has been found to be useful with drug addicts, alcoholics, and people with eating disorders.
References
Corrigan, P. W., Kundert, C., & Laique, A. (2021). The impact of contact and fame on changing the public stigma of mental illness. Community Mental Health Journal. Web.
Hearon, S. (2022). Demi Lovato’s struggle with addiction in their own words. Us Weekly. Web.
Meinawati, S. R. (2018). A Study of lexical cohesion in the lyrics of Demi Lovato’s songs in tell me you love me album (Doctoral dissertation, Universitas Brawijaya). Web.
Sansone, R., & Sansone, L. (2014). “i’m your number one fan”-A clinical look at celebrity worship [Review of “i’m Your Number One Fan”-A Clinical Look at Celebrity Worship]. The Interface.
Shedlosky-Shoemaker, R., Strassle, C. G., Deffler, S. A., & Engler, J. N. (2022). Addressing stigmatization of psychological disorders in introductory psychology. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology. Web.
Zarein, F., Shabani, A., Jalali Nadoushan, A. H., Ahmadzad-Asl, M., & Alaei, S. (2020). A Cross-sectional study on the ability to remember Mania symptoms in patients with Type I Bipolar Disorder 60 months after hospital discharge. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, 25(4), 428-439.