Demi Lovato opens up about addiction, eating disorder battles

Los Angeles: Singer Demi Lovato opened up about her struggle with drugs and alcohol addictions as well as her bipolar disorder and eating disorder.

The "Heart Attack" hitmaker, who underwent rehab in 2010, at age 18, said she did not believe she would make it to age 21, reported E! online.

"I lived fast and I was going to die young. I didn't think I would make it to 21. And I thought, 'Oh great, now the world thinks I'm just another stereotype.'

"I thought, 'I'm not in treatment for a drug and alcohol problem. But once I started eating again, the other issues got worse. It was like whack-a-mole.'," Lovato, 23, said.

Even after leaving the rehab, the songtress said that she continued to attend AA meetings to stay on track.

Talking about her eating disorder, which began when she was just a toddler, Lovato said, "Even though I was 2 or 3 years old. Being around somebody who was 80 pounds and had an active eating disorder...It's hard not to grow up like that."

Her mother, a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, and her grandmother had both struggled with bulimia.

However, the singer tried to raise awareness for body acceptance recently and she managed to inspire her fans to overcome their struggles.

"When I have meet-and-greets, I can't tell you the amount of times that girls will show me their arms covered in scars or cuts. They'll tell me, 'You helped me get through this. Because of you, I stopped self-harming,' or 'I got sober.' Hearing those things gave my life new meaning," she said. P