Illustration by Ana Mouriño
Bipolar pop singer Demi Lovato gave a new radio interview recently, in which she said she does not want the label of bipolar to take over her life.
Despite being one of the most outspoken opponents of bipolar stigma, Lovato fears people will only think of her bipolar and not her music.
The 24-year-old singer spoke in earnest to iHeartRadio’s Label Defiers podcast, hosted by Elvin Duran.
“I think when people refer to me as being bipolar, it’s something that is true — I am bipolar — but I don’t like people to use it as a label,” she told Duran. “It’s something that I have, it’s not who I am.”
This echoes what has been said by interviewees for my upcoming book, The Bipolar Addict, each of who stated they consider themselves to be people who “happen to have bipolar disorder,” rather than bipolar people.
Lovato has no fears discussing her bipolar journey but has grown tired of being asked about it all the time, and she doesn’t want it to define her.
She wants to be known as something else. “I think Demi Lovato, activist, is something that I would really be proud of,” she said.
The bipolar singer revealed her diagnosis in 2011.
She thinks it’s important to speak up about causes you believe in.
“I just happen to be in a position where more people will hear my voice than they would have 10, 15 years ago,” she said. “I use my voice to do more than just sing and I use it to speak up about mental health because that’s something I’m very passionate about. I’d say the whole world knows the real me because there’s nothing that I hide.”
She said she feels bad that some celebrities such as Chester Bennington of Linkin Park — who committed suicide last month — check their mental illness at the door and remain silent about it before it’s too late.
“I feel terrible for his friends and family,” she said. “But I know that maybe this will raise the topic into conversation around mental illness and mental health and help somebody.”
