"I stop reading so I don't see anything positive or negative."
As someone who has struggled with mental illness and been in the limelight since childhood, Demi Lovato had a long way to go to reach the self-acceptance she feels now.
A constant pitfall has been a tendency to seek validation from the outside world, as she admitted during her appearance at the Hollywood & Mind Summit in Beverly Hills.
It's something that is naturally amplified by social media, and Demi Lovato has revealed that she consciously avoids reading Instagram comments that could affect her.
"If I post a photo and there are a bunch of comments, I'll read some of my friends first, but the moment I don't recognize a name on Instagram because it's a fan or a stranger, I'll stop reading so I don't see anything positive or negative," he explained.
"If I see something negative, I'm going to be hurt, and if I see something positive, it feeds into that external validation that I've worked so hard not to need, and it goes back to when I was a kid and I needed external validation," she continued.
"So I don't look at the comments because they're either going to hurt me or fuel that," she added.
Demi Lovato has admitted that she also struggles with perfectionism, but is working hard to improve every day and is feeling "very happy" right now.
"I'm in a really great place, but that doesn't mean I don't still struggle with things like anxiety," said the singer, who has opened up about her experiences with depression, addiction, searching for her gender identity and her eating disorders.
"Sometimes I have sad days where I cry and then post a picture on Instagram! But I'm human and that's okay," he added.
Demi Lovato feels like she's in "much better shape" today and attributes it to all the work she's done to overcome all the problems she's faced.
"I feel like I'm in a lot better shape than I was a year ago," the 30-year-old singer said.
"This is due to the constant development and work I do for myself. Part of that work is psychotherapy and I see a dietitian to help me with my eating disorder recovery,” she said.
"I have a great treatment team and a great support system — two things that are very important for someone struggling with mental illness," she said.
Still, some days are better than others for Demi Lovato, who also noted that she still struggles with anxiety at times and is still exploring the difficult terrain of her gender expression.
"I'm a very fluid person. My gender identity is also sometimes fluid. I identify more as female some days and other days I identify more as non-binary,” she revealed.
"Every day I learn more about myself. That mindset of setting boundaries, then stepping back and realizing, 'no, actually this is what I want,' is something I encourage everyone to follow," she added.
