Demi Lovato suffered brain damage as a result of 2018 overdose

NZ Herald

17 Feb, 2021 11:27 PM3 mins to read

Demi Lovato opens up about the long-term health effects of her 2018 drug overdose in new documentary, Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil. Photo /Rich Polk via Getty Images

YouTube premiered the trailer for revealing new documentary Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil, on Wednesday. The documentary focuses on the singer's near-fatal 2018 drug overdose and the effects it had on her life, long term.

The trailer reveals that the upcoming documentary - a four-part docuseries debuting March 23 on YouTube Originals - is a deeply personal exploration of the star, with interviews with her close friends and family, as well as Elton John and Christina Aguilera.

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At the documentary's Television Critics Association panel on Wednesday, where she appeared alongside the documentary's director Michael D Ratner, Lovato opened up about the long-term affects the overdose had on her, revealing that she had three strokes and a heart attack in the hospital.

"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," Lovato told reporters. "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."

"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," she 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."

The near-fatal overdose occurred in the Disney star's $8 million home in the Hollywood Hills on July 24, 2018. Lovato was unconscious when paramedics arrived and was revived with Narcan, reported TMZ at the time. Narcan is an emergency medication used to reverse the effects of a narcotic overdose.

In spite of the trauma of her overdose Lovato opened up to People, saying that she "wouldn't change a thing" about her past.

"Everything had to happen in order for me to learn the lessons that I learned," she told People. "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."

Lovato had previously completed a stint in rehab at age 18 for drugs, self-harm and an eating disorder before recovering in 2012.

Earlier this week Lovato shared a clip from a new music video with her fans on Instagram. The video teases a track called What People Say, a duet she performs with Sam Fischer. The song is an emotional pop-ballad that hopefully heralds a strong musical comeback from Lovato.