MUMBAI: Selena Gomez is having an important discussion about mental health.
The 28-year-old singer hosted an Instagram Live chat with Dr. Vivek Murthy on Oct. 11 to talk about loneliness and the power of human connection.
During the conversation, the former U.S. Surgeon General asked the artist how she’s handled this time amid the global coronavirus pandemic.
“In the beginning, I couldn’t deal with it that well,” Gomez said. “I kind of went into a bit of a depression. Then, I started going into a place where I was really writing and being active, and then I guess it just forced me to have that time. And again, I’ve been able to spend time with those people, those quality people, a lot more than I ever had and spending a lot more time with my family.”
While the “Wolves” star said she almost feels like she’s “become normalized to this situation that’s not normal,” she acknowledged it’s still not easy. “But yeah, I mean, my job is a lot of travel, connecting to people, making people happy and that makes me happy,” she continued. “So, it has been a struggle.”
Gomez said focusing on her work has helped. For instance, she talked about how she just released her beauty line and how she was recently in the studio.
“I would say right now I’m fully coming out again, and I just think I had to handle it the way I needed to handle it,” she said. “And I got through that with the right people and doing the right things and doing the right steps to not make me go crazy.”
In addition, Gomez talked about technology and how she has not had any social media on her phone for two years. “Though I use the platform, I make sure I approve and write things I want to write but I don’t look at it and it’s not on my phone,” she said. “So, I believe heavily that there’s something about social media and it’s technology getting blamed for increases in loneliness and disconnection.”
She then looked back at her past experiences with the platforms. “The end take of social media on my end was about my personal life and, you know, then it was used to say these things and I just felt like every day I woke up and I was like, ‘Why am I doing this?'” she recalled. “Like, if I’m constantly doing things wrong or if they think I’m this sellout, fake, not real, not authentic—which is every part of my being—these words hurt and they add nothing to my life and the truth is they’re lies. So, that is how I handled it by saying, ‘You know what? I’m going to step out of this because I don’t think it’s helping me at all.'”
Gomez has publicly spoken about mental health in the past. From sharing her bipolar disorder diagnosis to talking about her anxiety, the “Rare” singer has shared her journey for years.
Watch the video to see her most recent conversation.
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