Over two years after her overdose, Demi Lovato is still paying for the consequences.
At a Television Critics Panel discussion to promote her documentary “Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil,” Lovato revealed that her near-death drug overdose in July 2018 left her with “brain damage.” She explained, “I don’t drive a car, because I have blind spots on my vision. I also, for a long time, had a really hard time reading… It was a big deal when I was able to read out of a book, which was like two months later, because my vision was so blurry.”
Lovato is maintaining a positive outlook on the “repercussions,” saying, “They’re still there to remind me what could happen if I ever get into a dark place again.”
Despite her health issues, Demi knows it could have been much worse. She said, “I’m grateful for those reminders, but I’m so grateful that I was someone that didn’t have to do a lot of rehabbing. The rehabbing came on the emotional side.”
Even though she nearly died, Lovato said she “wouldn’t change a thing,” pointing out, “Everything had to happen in order for me to learn the lessons that I learned. It was a painful journey, and I look back and sometimes I get sad when I think of the pain that I had to endure to overcome what I have, but I don’t regret anything.”
Demi also opened up about her battle to stay sober. She said, “I learned a lot from my past. I was sober for six years and I learned so much from that journey. And the main thing that I learned from that journey was coming forward and talking about my story held me accountable through those six years. That’s a huge reason as to why I’m doing this, but I think that I was just so proud of the growth that I experienced and something inside of me was really excited to share that with people.”
In the trailer for the documentary, Lovato also revealed that she suffered “three strokes” and a “heart attack” as a result of her overdose. Along with admitting she “crossed a line,” she added, “My doctors said that I had five to 10 more minutes [to live].”
Reflecting on her hospitalization, Demi’s mom Dianna De La Garza said, “We’re watching all of her blood come out of her body into a machine.”
Christina Aguilera and Elton John also make appearances in the trailer.
Demi announced the doc last month. In a statement, she said, “It’s been two years since I came face-to-face with the darkest point in my life, and now I’m ready to share my story with the world. For the first time, you’ll be able to see my chronicle of struggle and ongoing healing from my point of view. I’m grateful that I was able to take this journey to face my past head-on and finally share it with the world.”
“Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil,” the follow-up to her 2017 doc “Simply Complicated,” debuts next month on YouTube.