A Look at Addiction in Light of Demi Lovato’s Suspected Overdose

US pop-singer Demi Lovato was hospitalised on Tuesday after she reportedly suffered from a suspected overdose.

The US pop-singer was hospitalised on Tuesday after she reportedly suffered from a suspected overdose.

(Photo: Altered by FIT)

On Wednesday morning, reports of singer Demi Lovato being hospitalised emerged after she suffered from a suspected overdose. Lovato, 25, a Grammy-nominated recording artist, was “okay and stable”, reported People magazine, quoting an unidentified source.

Entertainment news website TMZ, quoting law enforcement sources, reported that Lovato was found unconscious at her home and was treated with Narcan, an emergency antidote for suspected opioid and drug overdoses.

Los Angeles police said they had responded to a medical emergency on Tuesday involving a woman on the Hollywood Hills street where Lovato reportedly has a home, but had declined to identify the person.

Substance Abuse and Bipolar Disorder

The US pop singer has spoken openly about her history of drug and alcohol abuse. The 25-year-old has been dealing with substance abuse and has been open about it. In 2010, Lovato withdrew from a concert tour with the Jonas Brothers and entered a rehabilitation facility. She was also struggling with alcoholism and an eating disorder.

In a 2017 YouTube documentary, "Simply Complicated," Lovato spoke about years of substance abuse, eating disorders, and drinking, saying she first started using cocaine when she was 17.

She entered rehab at the age of 18, where she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Lovato released a song last month called "Sober" in which she sang:

Momma, I’m so sorry, I’m not sober anymore, And daddy, please forgive me for the drinks spilled on the floor, To the ones who never left me, We’ve been down this road before, I’m so sorry, I’m not sober anymore.

Looking at Addiction as a Disease

Explaining addiction, Dr Sameer Malhotra, psychiatrist at Delhi’s Max Hospital, says that “in Psychiatry, the term dependence is used and it incorporates the following concept:

• excessive use: over and above the intended use
• lack of control over initiation, amount used
• neglect of other priorities due to its excessive use
• tolerance: same amount not able to bring same pleasure, so one builds its use over time
• use interferes with one’s day to day functioning and biological rhythms including disturbed sleep-wake cycle
• withdrawal: marked distress on non-availability of the substance/object”

Addiction should be looked at as a chronic, progressive disease. Chronic because someone who has had a tryst with addiction once will always be susceptible to it and progressive because it will worsen if it’s not treated.

Scientists further add that if someone has been clean for five years, the likelihood of relapse is pushed further down, perhaps to the same level as an average population.

(With inputs from Reuters.)