The actress and her mom talked about eating disorders, addiction and a new book chronicling some of their struggles.
Demi Lovato and her mother, Dianna De La Garza, shared their family's journey to mental health Friday on Good Morning America.
De La Garza appeared first, helping promote her new book about their journey, Falling With Wings: A Mother's Story. She told GMA's Michael Strahan that the title reflects the idea that her family's future is bright, even if the road hasn't always been easy.
"Despite how far and how hard we have fallen as a family, we have restored our wings through therapy and we're able to soar toward a brighter future as a family together," she said.
She went on to say that Lovato is who gave her strength to talk about her own struggles with an eating disorder, among other things, in the book. She described her disorder as a way to reclaim some sense of personal power after growing up in an overly strict family.
"I think that my eating disorder was sort of the way that gained back some of that control that I felt like i didn't have," she said. "The woman that went into treatment when I finally did accept help, I think she was just a broken, tired -- just a really sick girl. And now, our lives are so different. We're healthy, we're happy, we're still going to therapy -- I have a great relationship with food."
Lovato joined her mother on the show, talking about how proud she was. She said De La Garza is calmer, happier and less anxious.
"Now she glows and she is just so cheerful and she is the most positive person I know," Lovato told Strahan. "I feel very proud of her. I know it's something that's not easy."
Lovato has been extremely candid about her own issues with mental health and addiction. On Thursday, she celebrated six years of sobriety on Twitter. She co-owns CAST Centers in Los Angeles, which helps treat addiction, and even has speakers talk at her concerts to fans about addiction.
"The very first thing that you have to do is admit that you have a problem and then you have to ask for help and you also have to know that it's possible," Lovato said she wants her fans to know. "I want people to know that it was possible to get help and to recover.... People will help you."
Her mom agreed.
"Reach out and get help wherever you can, from family, from friends, from community programs -- whatever you can do, reach out and get help," she said.
To see more about Lovato's mental health journey, see the video below.
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