Selena Gomez has opened yet another chapter of her personal life.
On Friday, the pop star spoke to Miley Cyrus via Instagram Live about her years-long struggle with her mental health. Selena, 27, shared for the first time that she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder during a recent stay at a Massachusetts psychiatric hospital.
Selena explained that she's no longer afraid to face the illness, and has even recognized the behaviors associated with bipolar disorder in her loved ones.
"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," she shared with Miley. "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."
Over the years, the "Bad Liar" singer has sought professional treatment on several occasions for issues related to anxiety and depression. The experience has undoubtedly shape Selena's outlook on her past, present and future, and mental health awareness is something she continues to champion on behalf of her fans around the world.
Revisit the star's most vulnerable moments below:
During a candid Instagram Live session with former Disney star Miley Cyrus, Selena revealed she is bipolar. "Recently, I went to one of the best mental hospitals…McLean 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 go to know more information, it actually helps me. It doesn't scare me once I know it and I think people get scared of that," she shared.
"When I finally said what I was gonna say, I wanted to know everything about it and it took the fear away," Selena added.
In an interview with NPR, Selena revealed the inspiration behind her hit song, "Lose You To Love Me." As she described, "It has a different meaning to me now from when I wrote it. I felt I didn't get a respectful closure, and I had accepted that, but I know I needed some way to just say a few things that I wish I had said. It's not a hateful song; it's a song that is saying—I had something beautiful and I would never deny that it wasn't that. It was very difficult and I'm happy it's over. And I felt like this was a great way to just say, you know, it's done, and I understand that, and I respect that, and now here I am stepping into a whole other chapter."
Selena, who confirmed the song was written about ex Justin Bieber, said she was emotionally abused during their relationship.
Selena's latest album, Rare, is her most vulnerable yet. She told Jimmy Fallon of the songwriting experience, "There came a point in my life where there were so many things being said on my behalf, and I found myself protecting people that didn't really protect me, but I had a right to say my side of the story," Gomez told Fallon last night. "And I felt like that was so liberating because it almost felt like I had let it go, personally, inside of me once it was out."
Gomez has spent years seeking help for her mental health ever since she began struggling with depression and anxiety in her early 20s. "My highs were really high, and my lows would take me out for weeks at a time," the star described to WSJ Magazine in 2020.
"I found out I do suffer from mental health issues," she shared with the magazine, noting it was "such a relief." "I got on the right medication, and my life has been completely changed," she said.
After earning the title of the most followed person on Instagram (Ariana Grande dethroned her earlier this year), the actress opened up about it. "I think it's just become really unhealthy," she said. "I think, personally, for young people, including myself, to spend all of their time fixating on all these comments and letting this stuff in. It was affecting me. It would make me depressed. It would make me feel not good about myself and look at my body differently and all kinds of stuff."
After receiving the 2019 McLean Award at the hospital's annual dinner, Selena detailed the severity of her mental health issues. "Last year, I was suffering mentally and emotionally and I wasn't able to stay all kept up and together," she said. "I wasn't able to keep a smile or to keep things looking normal. It felt like all of my pain and my anxiety washed over me all at once and it was one of the scariest moments of my life."
"I don't want people to think it's a sad thing that I went through this with Francia [Raisa], or with anything in my life, because at the end of the day, I think all the stuff I went through made me and defined everything that I am right now," she shared in 2017. "I think it's a really beautiful thing, and I have to remind myself of that. It's not a negative experience."
"I don't really think that people know my heart," she said on Coach's Dream It Real podcast. "I think that sometimes people may think that I politically say the right thing or I'm safe or I've been trained to speak this way. I don't know how to be trained, like how on earth would somebody be training me to speak things?"
"[Francia] lived with me during this interesting time when my kidneys were just done. That was it," the actress said on Today in 2017. "I didn't want to ask a single person in my life. The thought of asking somebody to do that was really difficult for me. Let alone somebody wanting to volunteer, it is incredibly difficult to find a match."
The 27-year-old star penned a powerful essay in Time about the immigration crisis and shared her family history. "In 1992, I was born a U.S. citizen thanks to their bravery and sacrifice," she wrote. "Over the past four decades, members of my family have worked hard to gain United States citizenship. Undocumented immigration is an issue I think about every day, and I never forget how blessed I am to have been born in this country thanks to my family and the grace of circumstance."
"Right now, I feel very sure of where I am. I don't feel erratic or emotionally unstable," she told Elle. "Or like I can't handle my emotions, like I used to. It's kind of understanding myself a little more. By all means I don't have myself figured out. But it feels good."
For more on Selena and Miley's candid conversation, click here.