Selena Gomez has been open with fans about her mental health struggles like dealing with anxiety and depression.
In a recent episode of Bright Minded, Selena opened up about her bipolar disorder for the first time with host and fellow Disney alum Miley Cyrus.
“Recently I went to one of the best mental health hospitals in America, McLean Hospital [affiliated with Harvard University in Massachusetts], and I discussed that after years of going through a lot of different things, I realised I was bipolar,” she shared.
“So, when I know more information it actually helps me. It doesn’t scare me when I know it,” she continued. “I think people get scared of it and I’ve seen it, even in my own family… I’m from Texas, it’s not known to talk about your mental health. You’ve got to seem cool, and then I see anger built up in children, teenagers or adults because they are wanting that [to talk about it] so badly. So I just feel like when I finally said what I was going to say, I wanted to know everything about it and it took the fear away.”
She also got candid about the treatments she’s undergone with her past mental health struggle, noting that she’s working to “use the tools that I’ve used in therapy” to help cope with self-isolating and social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic.
“This is where we test each other. How are we gonna treat each other?” Selena said. “This can be a time to be gentle with ourselves. Taking breaks from the noise and even social media… Just being outside and breathing in.”
“I think talking through what you’re feeling is extremely helpful,” she said. “Sometimes I have to feel it, sometimes I’ve got to cry it out and release it, and just take a deep breath.”
“I’m a big empath, so I feel so much of what the world is feeling,” she added. “Being there for other people actually helps me, too.”
Selena recently shared a list of the things she’s watching, listening to and reading “to keep me positive and help pass the time,” hoping it would help others too.
Her quarantine playlist includes:
“If the World Was Ending” – JP Saxe & Julia Michaels
“You Say” – Lauren Daigle
“Snowchild” – The Weeknd
“The Blessing” – Kari Jobe, Cody Carnes & Elevation Worship
“The Box” – Roddy Rich
For movies:
Invisible Man
Jennifer’s Body
American Hustle
Uncut Gems
Clueless
Sugar and Spice
After the Wedding
Zodiac
Election
Flirting with Disaster
For shows to binge-watch:
The Morning Show
Good Girls
The Servant
SNL (re-runs)
The Mind, Explained
For books:
Becoming by Michelle Obama
The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
Signs by Laura Lynne Jackson
For podcasts:
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me
A New Earth – Oprah & Eckhart Tolle
Get Sleepy
She’s also doing her part to help in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic, donating a portion of the proceeds from the merch for her new single “Dance Again” to MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund. She also shared that she also gave a donation to Cedars-Sinai Hospital – the same hospital where she got a kidndey transplant following her lupus diagnosis.
“So thankful for every single medical professional who is putting their health on the line to take care of others White heart I’m donating to @CedarsSinai as they are low on masks and ventilators. They’ve taken such good care of me so it’s my turn to show my gratitude,” she shared on Twitter.
