Alexa Ray In A 'Good Place' After Overdose Scare

Billy Joel's singer/songwriter daughter was taken to hospital in New York after complaining of breathing difficulties after taking homeopathic medication Traumeel.

Tabloid reports speculated the overdose was an attempt at suicide but the 24 year old insists she was just "being dramatic" and had no intention of really harming herself.

Speaking in detail about the drama for the first time, Joel tells People magazine, "I did say, 'I want to die' on the (911 call). Did I really want to? Absolutely not! I was being dramatic, and I take responsibility and apologise to everybody involved."

Joel admits her breakdown was sparked by a fight with her on/off boyfriend, Jimmy Riot, who she began dating when she was 19.

She reveals she was driven to ingest the pills after he refused to accept a Christmas gift from her: "I was in such a dark place. My soul was shattered. I only felt OK with him. I couldn't play a show without him. I was addicted to this man, and it spiralled out of control. My heart broke all over again."

Joel insists she has come to terms with the break-up: "Does it hurt that someone who was my love and best friend didn't contact me after I overdosed? Absolutely. I had a breakdown, crying that night, but, at the end I realised I didn't need him."

Joel kept her heartbreak to herself, confessing she felt "embarrassed" by her depression - and her mother, supermodel Christie Brinkley, blames herself for her daughter's love struggles, because she didn't approve of Joel's attempts at reconciling with Riot.

Brinkley says, "That's something you have to be careful of in parenting. Express your disapproval but try to keep the lines of communication open."

But Joel insists the personal crisis has brought her family closer together and she's now healthier than ever.

She adds, "Dad always builds me up; he helped me get perspective back. My mum and I have more hearts-to-hearts (talks) now... I'm in a Zen good place."

In January (10), Joel announced she is planning to study psychology so she can better understand the "Heartbreak-Related Depression" that landed her in hospital.