Demi Lovato is sharing more about the lasting effects of her 2018 overdose, which left her with brain damage that affects her vision and hearing. The “Cool for the Summer” singer, 30, opened up about the daily reminder of what she’s been through on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live Wednesday, saying that despite it all, she has “no regrets” in life.
“Well, I wouldn’t change my path because I don’t have any regrets,” she explained. “The closest thing that I get to a regret is when I overdosed and I wish somebody had told me, one, that I was beautiful, because I didn’t believe it. And two, I wish that someone would’ve told me that if you just sit with the pain, it passes.”
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She added, “I have vision impairment and hearing impairment to this day,” telling host Andy Cohen that she still doesn’t drive because of those impairments. “It’s a daily constant reminder,” Lovato noted. “Anytime I look at something – like, I have blind spots in my vision when I look at your face. And so it’s a constant reminder to stay on the right path because I never want that to happen again.”
Lovato has been open about the effect on her health her near-fatal overdose had, explaining at a 2021 Television Critics Association panel her brain damage and “blind spots” in her vision. She continued, “I also for a long time had a really hard time reading. It was a really big deal when I was able to read out of a book, like, two months later because my vision was so blurry. I’ve dealt with the repercussions, and they’re there to remind me what could happen if I get into a dark place again. I’m grateful for these reminders.”
The “Confident” singer also discussed her overdose in her YouTube Originals docuseries Dancing With the Devil, revealing it came shortly after she began using drugs following her six-year sobriety celebration. Running into her former drug dealer at a party, Lovato said she was “surprised” she didn’t overdose that very day. “That night, I did drugs that I had never done before,” she recalled. “I had never done meth before, I tried meth. I mixed it with Molly, with coke, weed, alcohol, OxyContin. That alone should have killed me.”
At that point, the “floodgates were open,” the Camp Rock alum detailed, and she began using crack and heroin. “None of my friends know what I was using. I kept it hidden from everyone,” she shared. “That was one thing I was very good at – hiding the fact that I was addicted to crack and heroin.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse or addiction, please call the National Drug Helpline at (844) 289-0879.
