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It's easy to forget that pop stars are real people, too. After all, they're famous! And beautiful! And rich! And, well, surreal. But it's true: as real people from the (mostly) real world, they, too, have real problems. They struggle with relationships and mental health issues. They go through down times and deal with drug and alcohol addictions. In fact, sometimes it seems like they might be even more prone to such "real" issues than the rest of us.

At the very least, they're obliged to deal with those demons in a much more public way. Their dirty laundry and darkest times are aired on gossip sites and reality shows, of course. But many artists also use their craft to process their problems, work through their struggles and pick up the pieces. Oftentimes, those "survivor" albums feel forced, a publicity stunt or a pit stop on the way back to rehab. But sometimes, they result in some of pop's most moving music.

The most recent example of this is young Demi Lovato, who's been on the scene (and, well, in the world) such a short time that calling her post-rehab third album a "comeback" feels silly. Maybe "comeback" isn't the right word, but Unbroken is most definitely an album dedicated to rebirth. Lovato really seems to be trying to musically work through her well-publicized battles with eating disorders, cutting and mental health issues, trying out onwards-and-upwards dance cuts and heartbreaking confessionals alike. The result is a pretty stellar piece of pop music, not to mention Lovato's most grown-up work to date.

In honor of Demi's survival songs, we compiled this playlist culled from rebirth albums from other artists who very publicly dealt with issues ranging from addiction to abuse to depression and used their music to exorcise their demons.