Five years ago, Demi Lovato almost suffered a fatal overdose from drugs laced with fentanyl. According to a new interview with Sirius XM’s Andy Cohen, the singer-songwriter revealed that the overdose has caused her continued health issues.
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Lovato has had an interesting career path, muddled with ups and downs. Her mental and physical health has been discussed by her fans for several years now and her past drug addiction has been well documented. Nevertheless, Lovato says she “wouldn’t change” her path.
“I don’t have any regrets, but the closest thing that I get to a regret is when I overdosed,” she told Cohen. “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.”
On top of the accidental overdose being a scary moment for Lovato at the time, it had continued to cause her issues years after the fact.
“That overdose caused a disability,” she continued. “I have vision impairment and hearing impairment to this day. Anytime I look at something, I have blind spots in my vision. When I look at your face, it’s a constant reminder to stay on the right path because I never want that to happen again.”
Lovato has been very candid about her struggles with mental illness and has even encouraged her younger fans to start openly speaking about theirs.
“The very first time that I went to treatment was when I was 18,” Lovato shared with NBC earlier this year. “I went for my eating disorder, and I went for self-harm and emotional issues. And when I came out with that experience, I was faced with the decision of either, ‘Keep your mouth shut and not say anything’ or ‘Share your experience strength and hope with another person in hopes that it affects them in a positive way.’
“I wanted to help others,” she continued. “I wish that I had somebody when I was 13 years old and having an eating disorder and starving myself. I wanted somebody in the public eye to say that ‘Hey, this is what I’ve gone through, and you don’t have to choose that route.'”
In other Lovato news, she has a couple of festival appearances slated for later this year. She will perform at the Wonderbus Music & Arts Festival in Columbus, Ohio, on August 25-17 and The Town in Sáo Paulo on September 2-10. Find tickets to both sets, HERE.
Check out Lovato’s chat with Cohen, below.
(Photo by RB/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
