Demi Lovato talks about the grim and painful reality of addiction and mental illness. In a trailer for her new YouTube docu series, released Wednesday, Lovato revealed that the overdose she experienced in 2018 left her with three strokes and a heart attack.
“I’ve had so much to say over the past two years to straighten out the facts about what happened,” the actress and singer said at the start of the trailer.
The four-part documentary, “Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil”, focuses on Lovato’s personal and professional life before and after the July 2018 overdose.
“I’ve had three strokes. I’ve had a heart attack,” Lovato said. “My doctors said I had five to ten minutes left.”
Many of Lovato’s family, friends and other celebrities, including Elton John and Christina Aguilera, are featured in the trailer. Some of those in attendance said they were unsure if she would survive the overdose.
“I’ve had many lives, just like my cat. I’m on my ninth life,” Lovato said. “I’m ready to do what I love again, which is making music.”
At a virtual panel for the Television Critics Association on Wednesday, Lovato also told reporters she continues to suffer from brain damage from the incident affecting her day-to-day abilities, according to The Associated Press.
“I had brain damage and I am still dealing with the consequences of that,” she said. “I don’t drive because I have blind spots in my vision. I had a lot of trouble reading for a long time. It was a big problem when I could read a book, which seemed like two months later, because my vision was so blurry.” “
The 28-year-old singer and actress has been candid about her struggles with mental health and addiction for years. Several of her songs deal with these fights, and in her 2017 YouTube documentary ‘Simply Complicated’, Lovato revealed that she first tried cocaine when she was 17 years old and worked for Disney Channel. A few years later, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Mental health and addiction are both common problems around the world, and each of these problems can make the other worse, research shows. Surveys show that about half of people in the US who suffer from mental illness also suffer from substance abuse, according to studies cited by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Lovato told Glitter Magazine on Wednesday that she ultimately hopes the documentary will “help people who have been on the same path as me.”
“What I’ve learned is that it’s so much more than just mental health, you know? My life now is about spiritual growth and how I can help everyone, even people who don’t have mental illness, how we can help raise everyone’s vibrations so we can live on a more positive planet, “Lovato told the magazine.” That’s how I navigate my day; how will my choices today positively affect those around me? How am I going to improve myself today? So hopefully people can see that in the document too. “
The YouTube documentary will premiere on March 23.