Selena Gomez opens up about her mental health: 'Society constantly tells us that we're not enough'
Selena Gomez has found her stride.
The actress and singer, 28, has struggled with her mental health in the past. But these days, the star says she is at peace.
"I’m in a good place right now," she told Stellar. "My mental health is something I work on every day."
Last year, Gomez revealed in an Instagram Live show with Miley Cyrus that she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The diagnosis came after years of dealing with intense anxiety and depression that would leave Gomez despondent for days. Now, Gomez says she's focusing on "accepting and loving the parts of us that make us unique," adding, I think that’s so important."
Gomez said she created her beauty company, Rare Beauty, as a response to "unrealistic standards of beauty" that are perpetuated by the beauty industry. "Society constantly tells us that we’re not enough," she explained. "I wanted to start a brand to challenge and eliminate that pressure."
"I saw from personal experience how these impossible beauty standards were having such an effect on my mental health and I know a lot of people who felt the same way," explained Gomez. "There’s a strong connection between how we talk about beauty and mental health. And I think we should discuss both."
These days, Gomez said her most important tool for finding balance is carving out time to spend with her loved ones.
"I’m an open book for the most part, but it’s important for me to have space and time with my friends and family," Gomez continued. "When I’m with them, I try to be really present and just enjoy the moment."
That also means taking an occasional hiatus from the constant onslaught of social media. Gomez says that's something she's made a priority in her business.
"I think it’s so important to take breaks from scrolling on social media. At Rare Beauty we do social detox weekends often, when we encourage our community to log off for the weekend. It makes a big difference with mental health," she said.
Back in April, Gomez used her social media platform to speak openly about her experience working to erase the stigma of living with mental health issues.
"I know firsthand how scary and lonely it can feel to face anxiety and depression by yourself at a young age," she wrote on Instagram as she launched a new initiative, #MentalHealth101 with Rare Impact through her beauty brand Rare Beauty, Yahoo Life previously reported. "If I had learned about my mental health earlier on — been taught about my condition in school that way I was taught about other subjects — my journey could have looked very different."
"For anyone who is hurting right now, I hope you know that you are not alone," Gomez continued. "I’m a believer in seeking help. Getting support and educating myself on mental health has changed my life, and it can change yours, too. I hope that Mental Health 101 will be the stepping stones for others that I wish I had… to get connected to the resources they need, and to empower young people in ways that may not have been possible before. I hope you’ll join me in supporting this initiative and being part of the change."
In addition to her mental health struggles, Gomez has faced issues with her physical health, as well. In 2015, she revealed that she was battling lupus. In the summer of 2017, she had a kidney transplant.
“The lupus was a huge thing that happened to me, then the kidney thing happened, and that was the scariest because, yeah, you could actually die,” Gomez told WSJ Magazine, Yahoo Life previously reported. The complicated surgery made Gomez recognize "I’m just so happy to be alive."
Read more from Yahoo Life:
Dan Levy on learning to take a break: 'Toward the last season, I really had to stop and say, OK'
Annie Murphy's latest way of keeping her mental health in check: 'I fell into the Peloton cult'
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