"I had been bullied, was looking for an escape."

Demi Lovato is recalling how she began "experimenting" with drugs and alcohol as a young teen.

While appearing on Wednesday's episode of "Call Her Daddy," the singer detailed her first encounter with opiates.

"I started experimenting for the first time when I was 12, or 13," Demi, 30, began. "I got into a car accident and they prescribed me opiates. My mom didn't think that she would have to lock up the opiates from her 13-year-old daughter but I was already drinking at that point. I had been bullied, was looking for an escape."

However, she said that when her mom "saw how many of the pills had disappeared and how fast they did, she took them away [and] locked them up."

The Grammy nominee added that she "drank a lot in my teenage years" and would "get certain kinds of pills throughout 15, 16," sharing that she would "steal" her mom's Xanax.

"So it was off and on," Demi recalled. "And then at 17 ... it kind of was the first time I tried coke and, like, loved it too much and then that kinda bled into me going to treatment right after I turned 18."

When host Alex Cooper asked the "Confident" singer if she would drink "alone" or would go "out to places" when she'd consumed alcohol specifically, Demi said, "My first time drinking I was alone and that should have been a major red flag."

She said she "stole beer" from her stepdad's refrigerator, revealing that she took four beers to her room and drank them "just to see what it was like to feel drunk."

"I was a little 90-pound girl so that was a lot," Demi noted, adding that she didn't drink alone after that and would drink with friends. "But that was my first time."

The Disney Channel alum went on to recall how her management reacted to her alcohol and drug use.

"Did people know you were drinking and doing drugs?" Alex asked, to which Demi replied, "When it came to management's attention that I had been doing pills, they definitely were like, 'This can't happen and what's going on and do we need to get you help?'"

Demi said she was "really good at convincing people" and would "make up excuses" such as that she was having trouble sleeping.

"Finally, when it got to a point where it was clear that I needed help and needed to go away, everyone was really supportive of it because it had been a long time coming," she added.

Demi -- who is promoting her new album, "Holy Fvck," -- has been open over the years about her battle with addiction and substance abuse, particularly following her near-fatal drug overdose in 2018.

In addition, she's continuously spoken out about her struggles with mental health and her battle with an eating disorder.

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Title: Demi Lovato Recalls Using Opiates For the First Time at 13, Reveals She 'Drank a Lot' As a Teen
Sourced From: toofab.com/2022/08/24/demi-lovato-first-time-using-opiates-drank-a-lot-as-a-teen/
Published Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2022 16:05:52 +0000

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