Five Years After Committing An Overdose, Demi Lovato Remains Sober

Demi Lovato doesn’t sugarcoat the reality of addiction. In an interview nearly five years after her heroin overdose, Demi Lovato stated that while she’s sober now, she still has difficulty seeing and hearing.

“I wouldn’t change my path because I don’t have any regrets,” the 30-year-old singer stated during a 2023 guest on Andy Cohen’s Sirius XM show, Billboard reports. “My most regrettable experience was overdosing, which resulted in a disability.” I have eye and hearing impairments to this day.”

Demi, who uses both she/her and they/them pronouns, also stated that they have blind spots in their vision and are unable to drive due to them. “It is a daily reminder. Demi said Andy Cohen, “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.”

Jordan Jackson, Demi’s assistant, discovered the singer unconscious that July day, according to PEOPLE. Demi was brought to the hospital and treated with Narcan, an emergency medicine for narcotic overdoses, according to TMZ. At the time, law enforcement officials informed the magazine that it seemed to be a heroin overdose.

Demi became responsive by mid-afternoon. “Demi is awake and with [their] family, and they want to thank everyone for their love, prayers, and support.” “Some of the information being reported is incorrect, and they respectfully request privacy,” Demi’s representative told TMZ at the time.

Demi said in her 2017 YouTube series Simply Complicated that she first used cocaine when she was 17. “I was with a couple friends, and they introduced me to it,” she added. “I was afraid since my mother constantly warned me that if I did it, my heart would break, but I did it anyway. “And I loved it.”

Demi later acknowledged to taking a wide range of substances in the months preceding their incident. According to PEOPLE, Demi used meth, molly, cannabis, booze, and oxycontin one night. “That alone should’ve killed me,” she explained. Shortly afterwards, the singer experimented with crack cocaine and heroin.

Demi’s overdose helped them realize that “every day is a day that someone else doesn’t get,” she told TMZ Live in April 2021. “Every day that I’m here on this earth is a day that I need to be counting my blessings for and just being appreciative and grateful for it.”

Demi also stated that the discovery has inspired and driven them to accomplish even more with their lives. “It makes me want to live the best life I can possibly live, knowing that others didn’t get the same chance that I did,” she added.

“Anytime that I see somebody OD or even pass away that’s in the public eye, I immediately think, ‘That could have been you, had you not been putting all this work into the last couple years of your life,'” he added. “There have been occasions when I’ve expressed survivor’s remorse, because you wonder why you’re still here. “Why are others not?”

Despite these challenges, Demi stated that she maintains a good attitude on life. “Luckily, in the mind state that I’m in now—you know, being sober, having a clear head—I just think [I’m] in a more positive mind space and I’m not focusing on the shame at all,” she added. “I know I have a lot of sympathy for where I was at that time and the choices that I made and I understand why it happened and what happened, but there’s no shame that comes with it because it was just a life lesson that I had to learn.”