Demi Lovato has been battling a lot in the past few weeks, at least in the eyes of the media. The reality of the situation, however, is that Demi has probably been battling a lot for months now. People read news report after news report about her overdose and, in true human nature, draw their own conclusions. There is a lot of love to be found in the comment sections of these articles and, yet, there is also a lot of hateful ignorance.
People are so quick to judge—so quick to throw stones. People are so quick to assume that just because Demi has been in the spotlight for years, they know her on a personal level. These people are wrong. The reaction to this horrific event is simply reaffirming the fact that society loves to watch people fall. They crave for people to do poorly so that they can throw in their two cents and sit back, feeling good about themselves.
If watching someone break (not just a public figure but anyone for that matter) is exciting for you, then please reevaluate your life. (This includes your belief that you possess the right to judge and make assumptions about anyone.) In reality, this situation can and does happen to people every single day. It can happen to your friends, your family members, and even you. Addiction does not discriminate and I'm guessing that if it hit home, you would want people to show a lot more compassion than you're giving Demi and her family.
I am still and will forever be a Demi Lovato fan. This relapse does not take away from the hundreds of amazing things she has done in both her career and her life. She is an open book in fighting struggles such as addiction, eating disorders, body confidence, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, the loss of a parent, and the pressure to fit in and obtain perfection. If you look around, she is the loudest voice in the industry, bringing awareness to these issues and not pretending that she is above any other person just because she is famous.
Demi is still a role model to people because she is as real as it gets. She has never pretended to be someone she wasn't. She has owned even her biggest mistakes, and all the while, she has been a voice for young people who feel they are suffering alone. Her music, her charity work, and her television productions are all amazing, but I don't believe that any of it compares to the work she has done as an advocate and as a humanitarian.