American actor and singer Selena Gomez says she was initially "terrified" at the prospect of opening up about her mental health struggles.
"I went back and forth on whether I'd do it or not," Gomez said.
"And I think the moment I did that (open up) I felt this insane amount of release because there wasn't any hiding anymore.
"There wasn't just this image that people can see … I would say it's helped release a lot of anxiety."
Speaking on stage at the SXSW (South by Southwest) festival in the US city of Austin, Texas, Gomez came to realise opening up was the right move for her because of the way in which it had helped others.
Gomez was on a panel exploring mindfulness over perfection and getting real about mental health in which panel members spoke about navigating negative self-talk and making the journey towards authenticity.
Referencing her 2022 documentary Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me in which she discusses her mental health and struggles with fame, Gomez said it made her "sick" to reflect on her negative self-talk back then.
"It bums me out," she said.
"But I think everybody can relate to that feeling.
"It's important to speak to yourself with kindness, but I don't think I really understood that.
"It's funny because all of the things I was bitching about then I'm grateful for now."
She said self-acceptance was not something that could be forced and she had to find her own way when she was ready.
"I had to hit my rock bottom. I had to do it in my time. It took a couple of tries, but I'd like to think and hope that I'm in a much better place now," she said.
Gomez suffers from bipolar disorder and the autoimmune disease lupus.
In 2015, she took a break from her career to deal with anxiety and depression stemming from her lupus diagnosis.
Gomez also underwent a kidney transplant in 2017 – also a result of lupus.
By Mawunyo Gbogbo
Original article link: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-18/selena-gomez-what-is-lupus-bipolar-self-acceptance-mental-health/10360009898
