Pop star Demi Lovato has made her first public statement since suffering, what's being described as, a near-death overdose some two weeks ago.
Taking to Instagram this morning, Demi Lovato told her 70 million-plus followers: "What I’ve learned is that this illness is not something that disappears or fades with time. It is something that I must continue to overcome and have not done yet."
Demi Lovato has now agreed to enter a rehab facility immediately after she checks out of hospital soon, we recently reported.
“I want to thank God for keeping me alive and well," the 25-year-old said, adding that she would be "forever grateful” to her fans for their support.
“I now need time to heal and focus on my sobriety and road to recovery.”
The pop star was rushed to hospital following a drug overdose on 24 June, but her family only brought up the subject of rehab with her late last week because she was too sick to discuss it until now. "She's getting out any day now," a source told the website TMZ.

A post shared by Demi Lovato (@ddlovato) on Aug 5, 2018 at 1:53pm PDT

It's expected that Demi will enter rehab any day now. Members of the star's entourage had threatened to quit if Demi didn't check into rehab. "She could die if she doesn't, and that's not going to be on my watch that we did nothing," one of them is reported as saying.
Another friend told People magazine: "She needs to get out of this whole system that she has been in since she was 13."
Another friend has now said that she believes the only way Demi will survive is if she turns her back completely on the music scene. "If she wants to survive, she needs to get out of this business. Right now her health and her life are at stake," said the friend.
"In the end she has to want to get help. She can't be forced into treatment. It won't work. It's too soon to say what the next steps are in terms of treatment. Everyone just wants to help get her to a health place."
The overdose "nearly killed her", according to news reports. It was originally reported by TMZ that the singer had overdose on heroin on 25 June, but the popular website then backtracked on this report.
TMZ said that law enforcement sources had told them she had taken the Class A drug, but the next morning they quoted a source connected to the singer who insisted that "Demi Lovato did not OD on heroin".
A spokesperson for her family said: "Some of the information being reported is incorrect and they respectfully ask for privacy.”
Regardless of what type of drug she may or may not have taken, audio of the emergency call revealed that Demi Lovato was unconscious upon the arrival of emergency services.
She had to be revived with a drug called Narcan, a medication used to reverse the effects of a narcotic overdose.
Lovato, who had previously struggled with cocaine and Oxycontin addictions, had been clean for six years but recently fell off the wagon.
In 2010, the singer was treated for bipolar disorder, bulimia, self-harm and addiction. After relapsing, she then entered a sober living facility for a year and managed to remain sober for the past six years.... until her recent relapse.
In fact, Demi even opened up about sobriety when she released a single entitled Sober only back in June.
“The ultimate breaking point would have been when Demi was on tour, and she lashed out at one of her dancers, physically,” her mother De La Garza once told People magazine.
“That was the defining moment where we all said, as a family: She needs help. She needs serious help. And it doesn’t matter what happens to her career — we need to focus on getting her the help she needs.”