Demi Lovato, still living the aftermath of her 2018 overdose

A heart attack and three strokes. The overdose that forced Demi Lovato to be admitted to the hospital in July 2018 had more serious consequences than anyone would have imagined. Consequences that nearly cost the Disney star her life.

Years later, Demi Lovato revealed the details of that incident. It changed her perspective on life. "The doctors said I only had five or ten minutes more to live," she says in the preview of the documentary 'Dancing with de Devil,' to be released on YouTube on March 23.

In addition to Demi Lovato's addiction problems, the documentary will detail the eating disorders she had as a child star and the impact of worldwide fame on her darkest times.

In addition to the direct damage of the fentanyl overdose, Demi Lovato suffered its after-effects for years. "I still have brain damage and I'm still dealing with the effects," she says in the documentary. "I can't drive because I have blind spots in my vision. And for a long time I couldn't read."

The lesson she learned that day serves as a reminder for Demi Lovato to resist going "back to that dark area again." She says that "everything had to happen so that I could learn the lessons I learned. I'm very proud of the person I am now." In 2020, she was fully involved in the campaign that brought Joe Biden to the White House.

Demi Lovato's civic involvement culminated in her performance at the January 20, 2021 evening gala for President Biden's inauguration, where she sang Bill Withers' song 'Lovely Day.'

It all started on August 20, 1992, when Demetria Devonne Lovato-Hart was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her mother had been a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader and her father a musician. Music and dancing was normal in the Lovato family.

Known as Demi Lovato, the girl rose to worldwide fame in 2008. That year she filmed 'Camp Rock,' a movie for Disney Channel, in which she shared the lead role with the Jonas Brothers.

Along with Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus, Lovato led the new generation of Disney girls taking over from Britney Spears and Hilary Duff. Demi got her own show: 'Sonny With a Chance.'

Filming Disney shows and touring with the Jonas Brothers to promote 'Camp Rock,' the teen Demi Lovato got into her first troubles. In November 2010, at age 18, she had to leave their 'World Tour' to go into rehab.

The reasons she gave for rehab were not simply those of drug use. She said she had 'emotional and physical problems' that she needed to deal with. Demi's father, separately, claimed that Disney had been too tough on his daughter - only a child. "There's a lot of pressure," he said. "It's one of the things that worried me most when she signed with Disney."

There were several things going on that year. First of all, Demi Lovato was touring with her ex, Joe Jonas, who was now seeing someone else. To add to the tensions of the tour, Joe's new girlfriend, actress Ashley Greene, traveled along with them.

Demi Lovato suffered from anxiety and anger issues at the time. She got into a big fight with one of the dancers of the tour, Alex Welch. She had allegedly gone out partying the day before a performance, and the dancer had reported her to the tour management. In response, Lovato allegedly assaulted the dancer. It was a big scandal and Alex Welch threatened to sue Demi Lovato.

A common thread in all the problems of Demi Lovato during that 2010 tour was excessive substance abuse. Only 18 years old, Demi admitted that she was addicted. She decided to take "personal responsibility for her actions and search help" in rehab. Disney, far from being angry, supported its glittering star.

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Demi Lovato would spend nearly three months in the clinic. After checking out in January 2011, she continued with an outpatient program. In April 2011, she was ready to start acting and singing again.

After overcoming the issues of her first rehabilitation, Demi Lovato had to deal with another big problem: an eating disorder. As she didn't always match the beauty ideals imposed by Hollywood, Lovato became obsessed with losing weight.

Lovato would later admit that she suffered from bulimia. In 2012, at the age of 19, "I was vomiting up to five times a day," she'd recall. "I even thought orange juice was going to make me fat."

Faced with such a situation, Demi Lovato was admitted back into rehab, this time for a severe eating disorder. At that time, in February 2012, Demi Lovato remembers the strong support she had from her best friend: Selena Gomez.

Months after leaving rehab for the second time, Demi Lovato confessed that, in addition to her eating disorders and self-esteem issues, she's been admitted because she had a strong addiction to drugs and alcohol. "When I wasn't getting high, I was thinking about getting high," she said. For a while, no one knew about her drug use, because she always did it secretly in bathrooms, dressing rooms, planes, and hotel rooms.

Confessing her addictions was a hard but necessary step for Demi Lovato. The artist opened her soul to the world and the world embraced her. From that moment on, Demi Lovato found a new motivating force in telling her problems without any kind of blush, gaining the admiration of millions of people.

(On the picture: MTV's 'Demi Lovato: Stay Strong' in 2012)

The year 2012 marked a radical change in Demi Lovato's life. Not only did she leave behind her eating problems, but she accepted herself as she was. On social media, Demi Lovato said she was proud of her curves and showed them on her pictures. Her followers skyrocketed, because many fans identified with her personal struggle.

Meanwhile, Demi Lovato continued to sing. She had three studio albums on her name by 2011, and each of them sounded more mature. She wrote songs in which she recounted her personal experiences and put her soul into each of her lyrics.

From 2012, Demi Lovato achieved six years of sobriety in which she engaged the millions of fans she has around the world. Among her professional successes were two seasons of judging in the American 'X-Factor' and three more albums.

At some point during those years, Demi Lovato stunned her fans and the music industry by revealing that she'd had suicidal tendencies since the age of seven. "I was depressed at a very young age and I was fascinated by death," she said in the documentary 'Simply Complicated' (2017). "It took me a long time to understand these thoughts." Talking about them in public would help others with similar problems as well as the singer herself, she concluded.

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Wilmer Valderrama began dating the star in the midst of her rollercoaster of addictions and rehab. They were together for six years (from 2010 to 2016) and Demi Lovato has always remembered how supportive the actor was during her struggle to get sober.

In 2018, Demi Lovato announced that she had reached the milestone of six year of sobriety. As the world applauded her effort, she toured with stars like Christina Aguilera and engaged in social movements like the 'March for Our Lives' against gun violence in schools.

...Demi Lovato relapsed for the second time. And this time it was worse than ever before. In July 2018, at the age of 25, the star overdosed in her Los Angeles mansion. She was rushed to the emergency room and treated for an excess of heroine in her system.

Demi Lovato stabilized and recovered from the overdose, but until recently no one knew how bad its impact had been. The toxic substances in her body had caused a heart attack and three strokes. It would give her health problems for years.

Around a year after her disappearance - she had to recover from her near-death experience after the overdose - Demi Lovato announced that she was recording a new studio album and that she had a role in the movie 'Eurovision Song Contest' with Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams.

In the beginning of 2020, Demi Lovato sang at the Grammy Awards and the Super Bowl. She seemed to be back and ready to continue her career at the top level. From her song lyrics it was clear, however, that Demi Lovato was not an average star. She sang honestly about her struggles with sobriety and mental health.

The pandemic cut many showbiz projects short, including those of Demi Lovato. Still, she had quite an interesting and eventful year. She met a dream guy and fell head over feet in love with him: Max Ehrich.

Only four months into their relationship, the couple announced their engagement with a sweet Instagram post. Later that year, though, they called off the wedding plans. It seems that Demi Lovato is single again.

And now there's the documentary 'Dancing with the Devil.' Demi Lovato continues to talk openly and confidently about all the challenges in her life. It's one of the strengths for which the star is admired most.

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