Is Demi Lovato OK? Singer talks about lasting effects of her near-fatal drug overdose, says she still has vision and hearing impairment
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Demi Lovato revealed she is left with brain damage and impairment to her vision and hearing following her near-fatal drug overdose in 2018. On SiriusXM's 'Andy Cohen Live', the singer opened up about her health challenges.
"Well, I wouldn't change my path because I don't have any regrets," Lovato said and explained, "The closest thing that I get to 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."
Is Demi Lovato OK?
Speaking of her health troubles and disabilities that do not even let her drive, the 'This Is Me' singer said, "I have vision impairment and hearing impairment to this day." She further told host Andy Cohen that the incident is "a daily constant reminder. 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."
After the debut of the trailer for her docuseries 'Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil', she spoke to People about her overdose. "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," the 'Heart Attack' singer said at the time. "I'm so proud of the person I am today. And I'm so proud that people get to see it in this documentary and I couldn't be more grateful that I had someone by my side," she added.
Lovato wants to 'set the record straight' about her life
The 30-year-old singer said that she wanted to "set the record straight" about her life and is currently on her road to sobriety. "I wanted to reveal it all to my fans and say this is who I am and this is where I'm at today and this is the journey that got me here, and if it helps you, then I hope that it can because that was ultimately my purpose in putting this out," Lovato said.
"I was left with brain damage, and I still deal with the effects of that today. I don't drive a car, because I have blind spots on my vision," she revealed. "And 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 continued.
Talking about how the experience became life-altering, she said, "I dealt with a lot of the repercussions and I feel like they are still there to remind me of what could happen if I ever get into a dark place again," and added, "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."