Demi Lovato, pop singer and actress superstar, has been open about her mental health and addiction struggles. She recently put out a documentary on her life, Dancing With the Devil. The first two episodes aired on YouTube on March 23th. And two more episodes will air on March 30th and April 6th. In this documentary, Demi, her friends, family, and crew discuss her most recent, near-fatal overdose in 2018.
The documentary covers everything from family issues to eating disorders to being in the spotlight from such an early age and hits the hard, raw points of addiction.
From someone who is coming up on five years of sobriety, this documentary was extremely hard to digest. I was in tears within the first five minutes because I wasn’t expecting such detail about Demi’s overdose. Although there is a disclaimer before the documentary, the cast goes on to explicitly describe the situations.
That, in itself, is enough to hit someone hard – let alone someone who has a history of drug abuse.
Drug addiction is one of the most dangerous epidemics. The number of people who battle addiction and alcoholism is through the roof, and much more than we think. We have seen the demise of so many Hollywood stars – and some don’t end the way that Demi’s did.
Addiction and alcoholism have taken icons over the years. Prince, Michael Jackson, Heath Ledger, Amy Winehouse, Mac Miller, to name a few.
In her documentary, Demi talks about being sexually assaulted by her drug dealer, emancipating from her addict and alcoholic father, the on and off eating disorder she battled for a good part of her life, how she was able to hide her addiction from those close to her, her mental illness struggles… All of the conversations we should be having but aren’t.
The stigma around mental illness and addiction is still in place, which is partly why it has taken so many good people.
In this documentary doctors and family talk about the health problems that happened due to Demi’s overdose – specifically how she had three strokes and a heart attack, along with a tube that was sewed into her neck that filtered her blood. When she first woke up, she was legally blind and still has blind spots. It really is a miracle that she is alive today, and the doctors said that if she didn’t get care for another 5-10 minutes, she would have died.
Demi really was given a second chance at life, which is something not a lot of people are able to say.
If you haven’t watched Demi’s documentary, it is available for free to view on YouTube. We are able to see that even though she is loved by fans and is a role model for young women, she still has her faults, flaws, and downfalls.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction, please call the SAMHSA hotline at 1-800-662-4357 or look for a program meeting near you.
About the Author
Emmie Pombo is a latte and tattoo-loving Tennessean who specializes in mental health and beauty writing. She holds a degree in Journalism and a certification in Makeup Artistry and Airbrushing. Follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.