Demi Lovato’s mental health recovery has been a difficult — yet rewarding — journey.
The pop star, 31, got candid about how she’s overcome some of her past struggles during a conversation with Anna Wintour’s son, Dr. Charlie Shaffer, at The Center For Youth Mental Health at NewYork-Presbyterian’s annual benefit event on Monday, June 3.
“I have been to inpatient treatment five times, and it has [been] something that every single time I walked back into a treatment center, I felt defeated,” Lovato admitted during the discussion, per multiple outlets.
The “Confident” singer said things began to improve after she began “putting in the work and I started to, whether it was work, a program, or talk to my treatment team and build relationships there.” She added: “I think the glimmer of hope started to change when I started to find joy and the little things in life. And that was something that was so foreign to me before because I was so used to, so used to not seeing hope.”
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Despite feeling as though she hit “rock bottom” before her fifth in-patient treatment stay, Lovato said she “knew what I needed to do, which was to live a life in recovery,” in addition to needing “the right medication.”
She continued: “I think for me, medication has helped me tremendously. It’s helped so many people tremendously. And I think I had hit another low, and I was like, ‘What am I doing wrong?’ I felt defeated. But then, when all of the key parts started to fit into place like a perfect puzzle, I started to find the light again.”
Throughout her recovery journey, Lovato said she has learned not to let her mental health or treatment define her. “It’s just a part of what makes me me, meaning my struggles have shaped me into the pottery that you see today, but it’s never become my identity since then,” she explained, adding that she’s “grateful” for what she’s “been through and what I’ve overcome.”
Over the years, Lovato has been candid about her ups and downs with mental health and addiction. In 2011, the former Disney Channel star revealed that she was unaware she had bipolar disorder until she checked into rehab for the year prior.
“I couldn’t go 30 minutes to an hour without cocaine, and I would bring it on airplanes,” Lovato confessed to Access Hollywood in 2013. “I would smuggle it basically and just wait until everyone in first class would go to sleep, and I would do it right there. I’d sneak to the bathroom, and I’d do it.”
Lovato suffered an overdose in 2018. “The doctors told me that I had five to 10 minutes,” she revealed during a March 2021 interview on CBS Sunday Morning. “Like, if no one had found me, then I wouldn’t be here. And I’m grateful that I’m sitting here today.” A source exclusively confirmed to Us Weekly in January 2022 that Lovato had completed a secret stay in rehab.
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Lovato, who is currently engaged to fiancé Jordan Lutes, recalled her difficult moments on a September 2023 episode of “The Hard Stern Show,” stating, “[I have to] remember the importance of not living in the past and not having regrets for things. … I try to remain positive and have a healthy perspective of what happened to me.”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
