Demi Lovato Reflects Back on Her First Year Since Her Drug Overdose

It's been a little over a year since Demi Lovato had a slip in her sobriety and was hospitalized for a drug overdose. Now, despite a rough road to recovery, she's back and feeling stronger than ever.

On Saturday, in her first interview since her relapse, Lovato spoke candidly about becoming the person she wants to be at the Teen Vogue Summit in Los Angeles. "I think it's been a very introspective year for me. I've learned a lot, been through a lot," she said, adding that those difficult times have caused her to love the person she is today.

“What I see in the mirror [is] someone that’s overcome a lot. I’ve been through a lot and I genuinely see a fighter,” she continued. “I don’t see a championship winner, but I see a fighter and someone who is going to continue to fight no matter what is thrown in their way.”

Later in the conversation, the singer reflected on the pressures of fame and childhood stardom — both of which have influenced her addiction in the past. “Of course when you're seven or eight years old, and you say, 'Do you want be an actress or a singer?' You're like, 'Yeah put me on stage.' And you aren't even old enough to understand the consequences that come with fame. And yes fame is a privilege. It gets you a lot of things that you don't normally get but there are downsides to it," Demi said.

"It's important to remember those downsides when you're making that choice for the rest of your life, because once you're famous you can't not be famous anymore…I wish I would have known that as a child."

Aside from the downsides of fame and maintaining her sobriety, Demi also struggles with being positive about her own body after suffering from an eating disorder earlier in her career. However, she's learned to accept her body — even if she's not feeling great about the way she looks. “We hear the term ‘body positivity’ all the time. To be honest, I don’t always feel positive about my body. Sometimes I do not like what I see,” she revealed. “I don’t sit there and dwell on it. I also don’t lie to myself.”

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Demi continued: “I don’t have to lie to myself and tell myself I have an amazing body. All I have to say is, ‘I’m healthy.’ In that statement, I express gratitude,” she explained. “I am grateful for my strength and things I can do with my body. I am saying I’m healthy and I accept the way my body is today without changing anything.”

Her acceptance extends beyond her body and to being her true self. "Over the past five years I've learned life is not worth living unless you're living for yourself. If you're trying to be someone you're not, or you're trying to please other people, it's not going to work out in the long run," she explained. "If you want to dye your hair purple, dye your hair purple. If you want to love someone of the same sex, love someone of the same sex.

She added: "Be yourself and don't be afraid of what people think." Some sage advice to live by.