Demi Lovato Admits 'Aging' Gives Her Anxiety — but 'Not Because She's Worried About' Looks (Exclusive)

"We always want what we can't have," Lovato tells PEOPLE ahead of her new documentary 'Child Star,' out on Hulu Sept. 17

Demi Lovato knows there's nothing wrong with being confident.

The actress and singer (who uses she/they pronouns) caught up with PEOPLE just days after her 32nd birthday to discuss her new documentary Child Star (out Sept. 17 on Hulu), and she says that she tries not to harp on the process of growing older.

"Aging is something that, if I think too hard about it, I can get anxiety about — not because I'm worried about how I look or the changes in my body or my face, but because of that existential dread," admits Lovato, who will make her directorial debut with the documentary.

Related: Demi Lovato 'Chased' Child Stardom Because of 'Daddy Issues' and to 'Get the Love from My Birth Dad That I Didn't Have'

"I like to stay in the present moment. When we think about things that are in our past or things that are in our future, we're not present, and presence is the biggest gift that we can give ourselves," she adds.

Child Star, the teaser for which PEOPLE exclusively premiered, features footage of Lovato, Drew Barrymore, JoJo Siwa, Kenan Thompson, Raven-Symoné, Christina Ricci and Alyson Stoner from past and present as they reflect being thrust into the spotlight at a young age.

"This was just a story that I had been wanting to tell for quite some time. I've always thought about exploring the history of child stars, and also looking at different points of views and the perspective of what it's like to be a child star in today's day and age," says Lovato, who co-directed the film with Nicola Marsh.

Related: Demi Lovato Won't Let Her Future Daughter Get Into Entertainment Before Age 18: 'I Want You to Have a Childhood'

The "Confident" singer adds that, for her own part, she's "been very, very honest in the past, and I've demonstrated that vulnerability throughout my life. I've shared a lot with people, and I've realized that my experiences don't define me."

As she looks ahead to the next year of her life, Lovato recognizes that, as humans, "we always want what we can't have. And so when we get older, we sometimes put pressure on ourselves because we're not as young as we used to be."

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Still, she knows that "one day," hopefully decades down the line, "you'll be 80, 90 years old and you'll look back and you'll say, 'Why did I waste my time when I was 30-something worrying about age when I had so much to look forward to and so much time on my hands?'"

"I try not to focus on how much time we have left, but rather than how much more life experience that we get to have if we're lucky enough," she says.

Child Star is directed by Lovato and Marsh and is produced by Lovato and Michael D. Ratner, Scott Ratner, Miranda Sherman, and Kfir Goldberg for OBB Pictures. It premieres on Hulu on Sept. 17.

For more on Demi Lovato, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere now.

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