Demi Lovato is opening up to Seventeen about her time in rehab after having what she calls "a nervous breakdown."
The 18-year-old, who recently finished treatment for cutting, an eating disorder and depression, tells the magazine's May issue "I was really bad off. My parents and my manager pulled me aside and said, 'You need to get some help.'
"It was an intervention," she adds. "I wanted freedom from the inner demons. I wanted to start my life over."
Lovato continues, "There were times when I thought, I don't know if I actually want help because my eating disorders are my best friend ... Looking back on it, I just want to cradle my old self up and hold her and tell her that it doesn't have to be this way."
Now that she's out of treatment, she's focusing on the positive -- and is taking part in the "Love Is Louder Than the Pressure to be Perfect" campaign.
In a new video for the project, Demi says "There's a ton of pressure to meet impossible standards, to look right, be smart, thin, talented and popular ... If you're going through a dark period, remember that you're not alone."
Go to Steventeen.com/DemiLovato for more information.
