Demi Lovato's dad expresses support for troubled actress

Demi Lovato's father and a Disney rep separately expressed support for the singer-actress Tuesday, a day after Lovato, 18, checked herself into rehab for reasons that reportedly included the type of self-mutilation known as "cutting."

"We support Demi's decision to put her health first and we send her our best wishes," a Disney representative told People magazine. The starlet's Disney show, "Sonny With a Chance," is on a scheduled hiatus while Lovato sang on a concert tour with the Jonas Brothers.

Dad Patrick Lovato, a former musician who toured with his ex-wife, Demi's mother Dianne, told RadarOnline.com Tuesday that being a child star brought Demi "a lot of pressures. That is one of the things I worried about when she signed with Disney."

Patrick Lovato, who is battling cancer and reportedly hasn't been visited by his daughter since 2008, said her treatment facility is "not a drug addiction center."

A source whom People described as close to Lovato's family told the magazine Tuesday that Lovato has "fought through eating disorders and has struggled with cutting. [She] is taking control by getting help." The source said a fight with a dancer on the tour sparked her decision to get help.

Lovato's publicist, however, Tuesday told "Access Hollywood" that cutting is not why Lovato left the South American swing of the Jonas Brothers tour. The rep did not elaborate beyond Monday's statement that Lovato is seeking "medical treatment for emotional and physical issues she has dealt with for some time."

Whatever the specifics, "She needed help before a smaller problem got worse," a source told Us magazine Tuesday. "She is doing OK. . . . Everyone is really happy she is getting help."

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Her representative could not be reached to confirm the statements in People's story, according to MTV News. The network also said Lovato shut down her Twitter account during the weekend.

Lovato has spoken frequently about her body-image issues and about having been bullied so intensely she left her middle school in seventh grade to be home-schooled.