Demi Lovato was spotted out this April with a drink in hand, which was curiously photoshopped out of some social media posts. She got defensive and claimed at the time that it was Red Bull, but it’s possible that she was fibbing about a relapse. Demi has a new song in which she admits that she drank again. She’s also made some posts to Twitter suggesting it. Demi was sober for six years this March.
Demi Lovato revealed she relapsed just months after celebrating six years of sobriety.
“To the ones who never left me / We’ve been down this road before / I’m so sorry, I’m not sober anymore,” Lovato, 25, sings in her new single, “Sober,” released Thursday.
Elsewhere in the song, she apologizes for the “drinks spilled on the floor” and admits, “I wanna be a role model / But I’m only human … I’m sorry that I’m here again / I promise I’ll get help / It wasn’t my intention / I’m sorry to myself.”
The former Disney star hinted on Twitter numerous times in the last month that her “truth” was coming — and that not everyone would be happy with it.
“There’s nothing like the truth. The honest to God, uncomfortable and shocking truth. Sometimes you have to share your story in the most honest way possible… for me that’s through music,” she wrote in May, adding, “Sometimes you have to end an era to begin talking about a new chapter of your life.”
She also hinted days later that she’d made some changes to her lifestyle and inner circle.
“I feel like I’ve grown more in the past two months than I have in years. I feel like a new woman and I’m so grateful for my life today,” she wrote on June 1.
I recently ran into a guy I knew from AA (I don’t go anymore but I’m still sober) and he confessed to me that he’d relapsed but that he was afraid to go back to meetings, where he would get lectured to by old timers. That’s his personal issue, but it’s also indicative of AA and “all or nothing” thinking. Smart Recovery and rational emotive therapy discourage this. If you drank once or a few times after you’ve been sober for a handful of years it’s not like all is lost. You just had years of sobriety which is awesome. Go back to being sober and don’t make it worse by wallowing. (Smart recovery also recommends abstinence. I don’t think people with drinking problems can successfully moderate, but of course that’s individual. Edit: I also want to say that I encourage people to go to AA and that it did help me.)
Demi has helped people by being open about her sobriety and her relapse, but like a lot of things she does I don’t think other people are her motivation.
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That’s not indicative of all AA. Different groups attract different people with different ethos with different attitudes and different approaches. Everybody is different and recovery is individual. I’ve been in AA for 4 years and it seems to be working. I’ve seen people relapse and they’ve been welcomed back with open arms, gentle spirit and understanding. I know people who found more success out of AA and I know people who relapsed multiple times with the help of SMART Recovery and found long-term sobriety in AA. To each their own.
I think it really depends on the group. I had more in there about how I’ve been to decent groups in larger cities but I cut it. Appreciate that perspective.
So true KatieBo. I live in Raleigh, NC and I know of at least 15 different AA meetings that happen in the city of Raleigh alone, not counting on all of the surrounding smaller cities 10 or so miles away, like Durham, Cary, Apex & Wake Forest. Each and every one of those AA meetings will all have the same major principles of the program but will have a different tone and vibe to them because of the different personalities of individuals. It might take some time and a few tries to find one that best suits what you need, but the relief of sharing your story and knowing you’re not alone is well worth the effort (at least it was for me).
I never paid that much attention to Demi except for the last few years and I’m a fan now, for sure. I wish her luck on her journey.
Best of luck to her in her struggles, and to anyone else fighting that battle.
I think this makes her look more human IMO. For years being sober was like her branding and she sometimes came across as condescending. I respect her for speaking out about her relapse and wish her all the best
Best of luck to her, still cancelled in my book.
Why? Because she broke her sobriety?
I’ve always admired her honesty and I wish her all the best navigating her sobriety. It’s not easy, especially in entertainment.
John Oliver did a remarkably insightful show on rehab facilities. I can not recommend highly enough. It’s available on YouTube for those who don’t have HBO.
Unfortunately, relapsing is all too common, and in some cases… intentional. Rehab is a large profit business and *someone makes a lot of money on relapsing.
*Those who would milk an insurance policy. There are people actually wanting you to fail. It’s so very sad.
Alcohol addiction is tricky. I can imagine recovery is hard. Alcohol is everywhere. The temptation is too big. I have a couple of friends who seriously abuse alcohol. I had to stop hanging out with them because they always want to make you drink at their level. I’m not here to be peer pressured at my age. But I really worry about them sometimes. They go on several benders per month. They basically drink heavily every day. And they always want to make people drink more than they like because they’re not comfortable being the only ones who drink heavily. They need to feel normal. They’re actually proud of how much they drink. They’re in their 30’s btw. People like them definitely don’t believe in moderation. I honestly never see them recovering.
As for Demi, I just hope she doesn’t go off the rails like last time. Her behavior was scary.
Demi’s courage in being honest is beautiful and will help a lot of people, including herself. Sobriety is not a success-only journey. Sending her love & support as she recalibrates! XO
AA helped me. I haven’t been there for a while now, but I’ve been sober for about 15 years.
I had one problem with AA though.
Too often people with mental health issues are told to go off their medication. Well I agree that many people in the U.S. are over medicated, this can be dangerous. How can a non professional determine who is over medicated versus who really needs their medicine? My daughter, for example, was told to go off her bipolar medication by an AA member or she would “go crazy.” Not okay to make that assumption. Her father, my mother and her half brother were all diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Obviously it runs in her family. This was something he probably should have asked before making assumptions. Let the professional counselors make those decisions. Other than that, AA helped me a lot and I would still recommend it to anyone who wants to get sober.
Oh that’s terrible. It even says in the book that medications as prescribed should be maintained. It’s terrible that your friend had that experience : (
Sorry but all Lovato’s songs are so forced and constipated. She screams them out so that nobody would notice the song is not that good. Selena Gomez seems to get all the better songs. I don’t really know how it all works.
I’ve relapsed twice, once with double digit years of sobriety. I’m sober again, and have been for several years. Though I appreciate my time in AA immensely, I work out most of my stuff strictly in therapy.
AA is great for sober companionship. Having sober friends is pretty important in a world where many drink socially, and even heavily, on a regular basis. But AA doesn’t work for me personally, the way it did in my early 20s.
I still attend meetings here and there.
Best of luck to Demi. Relapsing is extremely common in AA, and outside of AA, so she should not beat herself up over it.
Relapse is a sign that there are significant issues that need to be addressed. She needs to address whatever those issues are, in ways that best work for her. Sobriety is NOT about AA or group approval, it is about recovering in order to live a healthier, saner life. It’s ALL about YOU, contrary to what is regularly extolled in AA.
In general whether she is sober or not she always comes across as self serving and just unlikable. A few weeks ago she came out with a story that at the Met gala two years ago an interaction with another celebrity (Nicki Minaj allegedly) almost caused her to relapse and she had to leave the gala and go to a meeting. I think she likes to portray herself as this nice girl who gets unjustly picked on for attention.
This chick bores the shit out of me. Pretty girl, talented singer, but substance abuse and eating disorders are basically all she talks about and all she’s known for. I wonder if constantly talking about sobriety might have been too much pressure. It’s good to break the stigmas around addiction and eating disorders but at some point when that is all you can talk about, write songs about, etc. it must consume you.