Demi Lovato had ‘anxiety attack’ watching her series Dancing with the Devil about drug overdose

Demi Lovato was so overwhelmed watching her documentary Dancing with the Devil for the first time that she had a ‘physical reaction’.

The singer, 28, opened up about her 2018 near-fatal drug overdose in the four-part YouTube series and her friends and family joined her to talk about her addiction battles and mental health.

The American star admitted she found it tough to watch, telling Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show on Friday: ‘I had a physical reaction the first time that I watched it. Like – anxiety attack.’

Demi admitted she found it ‘challenging’ to be so public about private matters, adding: ‘I had to work through a lot of things before I actually told the story on camera.

‘But I’ve been working on myself and putting in a lot of work behind the scenes to tell my story.’

However, she credits the project with healing her, concluding: ‘It’s been really cathartic, really really therapeutic.’

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Pop star Demi sings about her overdose in her new song Dancing with the Devil, admitting she was living a ‘twisted reality’ and was ‘close to heaven’.

The musician celebrated six months of sobriety at a show in 2019 but a month later fell prey to substances again after she ran into an ex-drug dealer at a party.

She opens the song, singing: ‘It’s just a little red wine, I’ll be fine. Not like I wanna do this every night. I’ve been good, don’t I deserve it?’

Demi later adds: ‘Twisted reality, hopeless insanity. I told you I was okay but I was lying.’

In the chorus she sings about almost losing her life: ‘I was dancing with the devil, out of control. Almost made it to heaven, closer than you know.’

Demi’s overdose was public knowledge at the time but full details of its severity have not been revealed until now.

In the documentary, she says: ‘I actually don’t think people realise how bad it actually was. I had three strokes. I had a heart attack. I suffered brain damage from the strokes.

‘I can’t drive anymore. And I have blind spots in my vision sometimes so when I go to pour a glass of water, I totally miss the cup because I can’t see it.

‘I also had pneumonia because I asphyxiated and had multiple organ failure… I’m really lucky to be alive.

‘My doctors said that I had five to 10 more minutes. And had my assistant not come in, I wouldn’t be here today.’

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