Demi Lovato found 'hope' after five treatment stints

Demi Lovato got used to "not seeing hope" amid her addiction struggles.

The 31-year-old star has been in rehab five times to treat her substance abuse issues, eating disorder and other mental health problems, and she's told how she felt "defeated" each time she began in-patient treatment but eventually started to "find joy" as she worked on herself.

Speaking during a discussion with Dr. Charlie Shaffer at the Center For Youth Mental Health at New York-Presbyterian's annual benefit on Monday (03.06.24), People magazine reports she said: "I have been to inpatient treatment five times, and it has something that every single time I walked back into a treatment center, I felt defeated.

"And I know that experience firsthand, but I think the glimmer of hope was when I started putting in the work and I started to, whether it was work, a programme, or talk to my treatment team and build relationships there.

"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."

The 'Sorry Not Sorry' hitmaker admitted things "definitely felt different" during her fifth stint of treatment as she finally accepted she needed to change.

She said: "It felt like I had hit rock bottom and I just knew what I needed to do, which was to live a life in recovery. And that was something that I pushed off for so long."

Demi told how medication has played a part in her recovery and helped her "tremendously".

She said:"I also needed the right medication. 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."

Through treatment, the 'Confident' singer has grown to understand her mental health is not her "identity", but just part of who she is.

She said: "It wasn't until I went into treatment for the first time that I realized this isn't who I am. 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. It's just become something about me that makes me a little interesting, I guess you could say.

"I'm grateful for the things that I've been through and what I've overcome."