Demi Lovato Reveals Hearing, Vision Loss From Overdose

Demi Lovato is opening up about her near-fatal 2018 drug overdose and the toll it took on her body. 

During a recent appearance on SiriusXM's "Andy Cohen Live" the singer, who has switched back from using they/them pronouns to she/her, said her sight and hearing suffered.

"I have vision impairment and hearing impairment to this day," Lovato said. "It's 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."

The topic of Lovato's drug overdose arose while discussing past regrets. 

"I wouldn't change my path because I don't have any regrets," she said. 

"The closest thing that I get to a regret is when I overdosed and I wish somebody had told me, one, that I was beautiful, because I didn't believe it," she continued. "And two, I wish that someone would've told me that if you just sit with the pain, it passes."

Lovato, 30, has not held back in speaking about her overdose. She got candid about the experience in her documentary, "Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil," in 2021, saying that she suffered three strokes and a heart attack while in the hospital. 

Speaking at the documentary's Television Critics Association panel at the time, Lovato said the physical effects she suffered were detrimental. 

"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 said, according to People. "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 said the effects were a strong reminder of the traumatic experience. 

"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 said. "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."

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