Demi Lovato reveals bullying pushed her to drink and drugs as at 12 years old

Demi Lovato has opened up about her experience with bullies and how their behaviour led her to start consuming drugs and alcohol from just 12 years old.

Lovato became known to many when she was cast in Camp Rock at 15 years old, before she went on to star in Disney's Sonny with a Chance the following year. However, she earned her first TV credits through appearances on Barney & Friends between 2002 and 2004, when she was around 10 to 12 years old.

It was around this latter age when she first began to experience drugs, though she was initially prescribed the medication by a doctor.

Speaking on the Call Her Daddy podcast this week, Lovato explained: "I started experimenting for the first time when I was 12, or 13. I got into a car accident and they prescribed me opiates."

Though this marked the first time the singer tried drugs, she explained she had already started drinking after having been bullied and looking for 'an escape'.

"My mom didn't think she would have to lock up the opiates from her 13-year-old daughter but I was already drinking at that point," she said.

Lovato fuelled her habit by stealing beer from her stepfather's fridge and drinking alone; something she admitted 'should have been a major red flag'. Things only got worse, however, when she tried cocaine for the first time at 17 years old.

She recalled: "At 17, it was the first time I tried coke and, like, loved it too much and then kinda bled into me going to treatment right after I turned 18."

Lovato was sober between the ages of 20 and 26, but in 2018 she suffered a near-fatal overdose which caused her to have a heart attack and three strokes while in hospital.

She revealed doctors told her she was ’10 minutes’ from death as a result of the overdose, and now, at 30 years old, she is on a journey to being 'sober sober' after saying she had previously tried to be 'California sober'.

Last month, Lovato said she now 'rarely think[s] about substances', explaining: "I tried just smoking weed, I tried doing this... And I just realised that none of it works for me. What's come into my life is acceptance…

"I'm in such acceptance of my life the way that it is that I really rarely think about substances, which is a beautiful thing and something that I never thought would happen to me."

If you’ve been affected by bullying and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Bullying UK (part of Family Lives) on 0808 800 2222. The helpline service is open 9am–9pm Monday to Friday and 10am–3pm Saturday and Sunday 

If you want friendly, confidential advice about drugs, you can talk to FRANK. You can call 0300 123 6600, text 82111 or contact through their website 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, or livechat from 2pm-6pm any day of the week