For the first time ever, Selena Gomez has opened up about being diagnosed with Bipolar disorder, whilst featuring on Miley Cyrus’s Instagram live series, Bright Minded.
The series has been up and running since the beginning of March to help create positive conversations amidst the madness of Covid-19 and as an attempt to create a sense of community and support amongst Cyrus’ fans. It saw its biggest audience after 180,000 viewers tuned in for the intimate conversation between the two Disney alums.
In a conversation that spanned over 20 minutes, Gomez opened up about a recent donation to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The star has a very personal connection to the hospital as it was where she was first diagnosed with Lupus, back in 2015 and received her kidney transplant in 2017 . The singer also stayed at their mental health treatment center in 2018. Following on from this, Selena opened up on a recent trip she took to McClean Hospital, a psychiatric hospital near Boston.
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The singer revealed “Recently, I went to one of the best mental hospitals in… America, McClean Hospital, and I discussed that after years of going through a lot of different things, I realized that I was bipolar, “And so when I got to know more information, it actually helps me. It doesn’t scare me once I know it.”
She continued: “I think people get scared of that, right? They’re like, ‘Oh!’ And I’ve seen it, I’ve seen some of it even in my own family, where I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ I’m from Texas, it’s just not known to talk about mental health. You got to seem cool. And then I see anger built up in children and teenagers or whatever young adults because they are wanting that so badly. 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.”
Miley Cyrus & Selena Gomez | Live (6) #MileyAndSelenaLive pic.twitter.com/OkanSONfOg
— Brazilian Selenator (@selenagomezigbr) April 3, 2020
This is not the first Selena has been open with her fans about issues with her mental and physical heath, including anxiety and depression, lupus and her kidney replacement. She told viewers that she had been having treatment for depression and anxiety as well as ‘other stuff that I’ve been dealing with’.
Bipolar disorder sees a person’s mood swing from one extreme to the other, and can often include serious depression and panic.
Gomez also revealed that learning more about the condition has helped her to deal with it — this is an important lesson she learnt from her mother Mandy Teefey as a child, who helped her daughter overcome a fear of thunderstorms. “When I was younger, I was scared of thunderstorms. And my mom bought me all these different books on thunderstorms so she’s like, ‘The more that you educate yourself on this, the more that you’re not going to be afraid.’ And it completely worked.”
Back in January, the actress spoke candidly with the Wall Street Journal, on her mental health struggles, although she did not reveal her diagnosis.
“My highs were really high, and my lows would take me out for weeks at a time,” the star told the magazine. “I found out I do suffer from mental health issues,” she said, noting it was “such a relief. I got on the right medication, and my life has been completely changed,” the star added.
Fans quickly shared an outpouring of support for the singer on social media, with viewers of the live commenting blue butterflies after Cyrus revealed that Selena had shared the emoji with her via dm which led to their recent reconnection.
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In her most recent album Rare, the singer opened up about her mental health and the importance of remaining vulnerable, despite what you may have been through. In times like these, where we are all being mentally tested, it is refreshing to see celebrities like Selena using their platform to let people know they are not alone. Mental health is real and affects us all, irrespective of class, gender or race so it is important to keep conversations like these going.
Featured Image via Instagram @selenagomez
