Selena Gomez has recently revealed that pandemic lockdown has taken a toll on her mental health. These comments come after sharing in early April that she’d been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Support from Friends
Gomez said this during a WarnerMedia’s virtual Television Critics Association press tour:
“It’s not easy for anyone to be walking through what we’re walking through. It’s not normal, and it’s affecting people, specifically with mental health, and people who could have never thought about things they’re thinking about now. And it’s really confusing.”
The actress and singer first revealed she’d been diagnosed with bipolar disorder on an April 4 episode of Miley Cyrus’ talk show “Bright Minded.”
“You know, I had gone to treatment a few times for anxiety and for depression, and for other stuff that I had been struggling with,” Gomez said. “Recently, I went to one of the best mental hospitals in America — McLean Hospital — and I discussed that, after years of going through a lot of different things, I realized that I was bipolar,” she continued.
To cope with mental health struggles during the pandemic, Gomez turned to therapy and her friends for support.
“It was hard, but I tried to find what I needed to get me through it. I have great friends and I see a therapist and keep my mind positive. I’ve learned so much about myself,” Gomez said.
Dedicated to Helping Others Too
Mental health has always been important to Gomez, whose makeup brand Rare Beauty is dedicating 1 percent of its sales to a special fund dedicated to providing mental health services to those in need.
Rare Beauty hopes to raise $100 million over the next 10 years to help increase access to mental health resources.
And while experts don’t yet know exactly how much mass-scale social distancing, self-isolation, and collective trauma have impacted us during the pandemic, Selena is trying to do her part to provide us with something positive and fun, specifically through her new HBO Max show, Selena + Chef.
The series follows the artist as she and a master chef FaceTime together so she can learn to cook like a pro. However, things don’t always go as planned: “I hope you’re gonna laugh because I look like a fool,” Selena commented on the series, which debuts August 13.
She is also set to appear alongside Steve Martin in a brand new Hulu comedy series Only Murders In The Building, it has been confirmed.