I saw an article on usatoday.com splashing the news that Disney teen star Demi Lovato left her tour with the Jonas Brothers to check herself into a treatment center so she could “deal with emotional and physical issues.” The report went on to repeat statements from an anonymous “person familiar with the situation” who said the 18-year-old was seeking help for “problems including an eating disorder and cutting herself.” Things she had struggled with in the past.
Now, this young woman’s choice to find help is probably a very positive one. But it’s easy, sometimes, to immediately start shaking your head over another young starlet’s public woes. In fact, it’s way too easy. We’ve almost been conditioned by our fishbowl existence on the web and TV to expect some kind of train-wreck ending for celebrities.
When I read the news blurb, however, my thoughts went elsewhere.
Whatever the facts concerning Ms. Lovato, I couldn’t help but think of how common her problems are. Our current day society puts enormous pressure on teenagers from so many directions. And I’m not just talking about the latest fame frenzy of our reality-show existence. I’m talking about a teen’s day-to-day strains. We rarely see news articles about the non-famous struggling with this stuff. They just show up in the form of numbers—growing reports of teen stress, depression, and anxiety that seem to be surfacing in a host of nasty ways: Bullying. Cutting. Severe depression. Suicide.
It’s a distressing trend. And even the façade of a idolized TV-star lifestyle can’t keep it under wraps.
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