Actress/singer Demi Lovato was banned from going to the bathroom alone while receiving treatment for self-harming and an eating disorder in 2010 to make sure she didn't fall back into her old patterns.

The former Sonny with a Chance star was admitted to an in-patient rehab program in Illinois in 2010 to deal with a series of emotional problems, including anorexia, bulimia, and cutting herself.

Lovato went through weeks of intense treatment, which she credits with saving her life, but the Skyscraper admits it was not always easy going and she was constantly surrounded by professionals watching her every move.

She tells U.S. Tv host Katie Couric, "Treatment was so difficult at first. I remember walking around saying, 'I'm in prison!' They needed to have those strict rules in order for me to understand how sick I was. I wasn't allowed to use the bathroom by myself, you had specific phone times. You're not allowed to have certain hair products that you could injure yourself with or possibly drink.

"You were stripped of a lot of things. I also had somebody watching over me every single time I ate and if I didn't finish what was on my plate, and often (there were) times I would cry because I physically couldn't stomach it, and if that happened, I would have to have little consequences, nothing horrible, just like not being able to go to the cafeteria to eat (with everyone else)."

However, the 20 year old insists she is now in a better place: "When I got out of treatment I gained like 30 pounds (13.6 kilograms) and my weight just fluctuated a lot, it (my body) was trying to find out what its natural weight was. I had a really hard time dealing with it, but I think I've gotten to a comfortable place now."