Miley Cyrus says she does dumb stuff when she’s messed up: “I am so f***ed up”

One week after igniting a media firestorm for her VMA performance, Miley Cyrus opened up in a revealing interview to Britain’s Sunday People about the new direction of her music and life.

“I have so many f***ing issues,” the 20-year-old daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus admitted. “I am so f***ed up – everyone does dumb stuff when they are messed up.”

The We Can’t Stop singer didn’t elaborate, so it’s unclear whether she meant drugs or personal turmoil were the roots of her “f***ing issues.”

The rest of Miley’s interview — which was conducted at the end of July, but just published on Sunday — was largely upbeat. Miley joked about being able to get by on only 45 minutes of sleep and her passion for creating new music.

“All I do is work, so I eat to live and to keep going,” Miley said. “I suppose I am a workhorse. I love being in the studio and when I take vacation I get so bored. I think of work as something I have to do.”

Recently, Miley’s been working extra hard on her album, Bangerz, which is set for release on October 8. Because the record is her first in three years, she really wants to prove her music and taste has changed.

“Right now, when people go to iTunes and listen to my old music, it’s so irritating to me because I can’t just erase that stuff and start over,” Miley told Billboard in June. “My last record I feel so disconnected from – I was 16 or 17 when I made it. When you’re in your 20s, you just don’t really know that person anymore.”

Based on what we’ve seen and heard so far from Bangerz, no one will confuse it with “Party in the U.S.A.,” which Miley released during the Hannah Montana era. In the Sunday People interview, Miley also spoke about what it was like to play that character.

“During Hannah Montana I think people knew I was acting. I’ve never been able to hide anything, a bit like Justin Bieber,” she said of the role she began in 2006. “Others who have been on kids’ shows try to act like their characters – but I’m not like that. I never pretended I was as good as the Disney Channel writes… They can’t make people not grow up.”