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demi lovato’s father dies: star speaks out about death of estranged father
Demi Lovato Speaks Out on Coping with Her Father’s Death
20-year-old singer and actress Demi Lovato has had to do a lot of growing up in recent years. Now, she speaks out about how she is coping with the death of her father who died of cancer just six days ago. Lovato says he struggled to manage his mental illness and was never able to function in society very well.
For her part, Lovato admits to having struggled to manage her own mental illness in a journey that had her develop an eating disorder and engage in self-harming practices.
“I’ve dealt with mental illness. My father dealt with mental illness,” she said during an appearance on “Good Morning America.” “He wasn’t able to function very well in society.”
Now, she is managing being bi-polar.
“I’m working with Cast Recovery, a treatment center I’ve worked really, really closely with, and I have trust in their program,” she said.
In honor of her father, she is starting a scholarship fund to assist people in receiving treatment for their mental illness. She plans to make a difference one person at a time.
Truth be told, there exists today excellent treatments for a wide variety of mental illnesses which can restore people to healthy living, but the treatments are often expensive making them unavailable to those who need it most.
Lovato was estranged from her father, but the two did manage a reconciliation of sorts shortly before his death. Patrick reached out to his daughter via Radar Online, telling the website he “just wanted his little buddy back”.
“My father and I didn’t have the most ideal relationship,” Lovato acknowledged during her TV interview. “But at the end of the day, he’s still my dad. And I grew up with him, he was a wonderful person. And it’s difficult. But I’m handling it OK.”
Lovato thanked her fans for supporting her during her trials referring to their support as being “incredible”.
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Demi Lovato speaks on dad’s death
http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/27/showbiz/celebrity-news-gossip/demi-lovato-father-mental-illness/index.html