Selena Gomez opens up about coming to terms with bipolar disorder diagnosis

The actor revealed she had been diagnosed with the mental health condition in 2020

Selena Gomez has opened up about how she came to terms with her bipolar diagnosis in her forthcoming documentary, Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me.

The film, which has been directed by Alex Keshishian, will explore six years of Gomez’s life, covering her struggles with her mental health, lupus and her kidney transplant.

Gomez revealed she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2020.

This is a mental health condition characterised by extreme moods. Those with this condition typically have episodes of depression when they feel very low and lethargic, and episodes of mania, during which they are overactive.

In a short clip from the film, shared with Variety, Gomez describes the fear she felt after receiving the diagnosis.

“When I first got out, I didn’t know how I’d cope with my diagnosis,” Gomez recalled. “What if it happened again? What if the next time, I didn’t come back?”

In the clip, she is seen in a bedroom at home, opening up the curtains and then sitting in bed.

“I needed to keep learning about it,” she said of the condition. “I needed to take it day by day.”

The singer and actor reflected on how her mother’s advice to her as a child helped her deal with the fear around her diagnosis.

“When I was a kid, I was terrified of thunderstorms,” she explained.

“I grew up in Texas, and I was so scared that lightning and thunder meant a tornado was coming.

“But my mom gave me these books for kids that explained lightning and storms and thunder, and basically said ‘the more you learn about it, the less you’re going to be afraid of it’. And it really helped.”

The documentary began filming in 2016 and was originally supposed to cover her 2016 Revival tour. However, the tour was cut, with anxiety, depression and lupus cited as the reasons.

Speaking to Vanity Fair, Gomez said the documentary “took on a life of its own”.

“It was never this thought-out plan thinking we were going to capture these very personal parts of my life. It just evolved from there.”

“As nervous as I am to put out something this personal, in my heart I know now is the time,” Gomez added.

“I hope that by sharing my experiences and difficulties, it will help people feel inspired to share their own stories. And to have hope that things can and will get better.”