Demi Lovato to receive prize for mental health advocacy

Demi Lovato will be honoured at a gala on 22 March (17) for helping raise awareness of mental health issues.

The Confident singer will be presented the Artistic Award of Courage at the Open Minds Gala, organised by The Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at the University of California, Los Angeles, for helping reduce the stigma of mental health issues by raising awareness.

Former Friends star Lisa Kudrow will host the event at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles, where former Glee actor Chord Overstreet will give a special performance.

Demi was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a condition in which a person's mood shifts between depression and elevated states, when she was a teenager, and also suffered with an eating disorder, substance abuse and self-harming before she went to rehab in 2010. She has since been vocal about her issues in interviews, supported various mental health campaigns, and released an inspirational quote book Staying Strong: 365 Days a Year.

Last year (16), she appeared at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to raise awareness for mental health, and declared to the audience, "I stand here today as proof that you can live a normal and empowered life with mental illness."

She also explained on TV show Extra she wants to use her platform to help other people suffering with the same issues.

“By keeping me accountable for my mental health, making sure that I’m taking care of myself, making sure I am raising my voice for other people, it has had a positive impact on me," she said. “It represents something that I have, it doesn’t represent who I am.”