Demi opens up on her battles with food, cutting, drugs and alcohol in her new interview — and how she overcame her demons!

Demi Lovato looks healthier and happier than ever after her stint in a Chicago treatment facility, and is know finally revealing the personal battles with her weight, cutting, drugs and alcohol that sent her there. Demi tells People, “When I was about 15, I was only eating two meals a week, but I wasn’t losing any more weight because my body adjusted to that. So I tried new things: laxatives, fasts — nothing was working. I decided maybe I should start throwing up. At my worst, I was doing it five times a day. I threw up so hard and so much, it was just blood in the toilet.”

Among Demi’s other brave admissions:

• On her now infamous fight with dancer Alex Welch: “I was manic. I was hurt. I just exploded. Everything built up to this point, and I took it out on someone who was my friend.”
• On if it was her decision to seek treatment: “Yes and no. I flew back to the U.S. and I thought we were going to L.A. My parents were like, ‘No, you’re going to Dallas. We have the owner of a treatment center waiting to talk to you.’”
• On what motivated her weight loss: “The spotlight didn’t cause this. It just contributed a little bit. I looked at blogs: I saw nasty comments.”
• On how she would skip meals: “On lunch breaks on Sonny with a Chance, instead of eating, I would take naps or I’d say, ‘I’d gotta get my nails done!’ I’d also go out with my friends more than normal.”
• On drugs and alcohol: “I’d be lying if I said I never touched anything. Fortunately it never got to a place where I had to be in treatment for it.”
• On depression: “I’ve battled depression from a young age. I never found out until I went into treatment that I am bipolar.”
• On reuniting with old friends: “Selena [Gomez] and I reconnected the first week. We hadn’t spoken in a long time. I take the blame; I feel like it was because of the way I’d been acting. She called me and she was the one crying.”
• On her current eating habits: “My goal for every day is to eat three meals, and that’s challenging enough.”
• On returning to Sonny with a Chance: “I don’t know if I could handle being in front of a camera with my body right now.”
• On staying strong:  ”It’s a struggle I’ll probably have to deal with for the rest of my life. But I have so much life to live; I don’t want to waste it.

Demi is one brave young woman who is helping millions of girls by making her struggles, and hard work in overcoming them, public!

1. Demi Lovato Spreads The Message: ‘Love Is Stronger Than The Pressure To Be Perfect’ WATCH!
2. Demi Lovato Talks About Her Eating Disorder: ‘It’s A Life-Long Disease’
3. Demi Lovato’s First Post-Treatment Interviews Will Air On April 22!