Selena Gomez is sharing how she coped with her mental health issues. The singer has shared a preview of her upcoming my mind and me documentary with vanity loungein which she explains how she learned to cope with her bipolar diagnosis.
Gomez revealed her bipolar diagnosis in 2020 after checking into a mental health facility. Bipolar disorder is a mental disorder that “causes unusual changes in mood, energy, activity levels, concentration, and the ability to perform daily tasks,” according to the National Institute of Mental Health. The singer has also been candid about her other health issues over the years, including a diagnosis of lupus, a kidney transplant, chemotherapy and public heartbreak.
“When I first came out, I had no idea how I would cope with my diagnosis,” Gomez says in the clip, posted on TikTok. “What if it happened again? What if next time I can’t come back? I needed to keep learning about it. I needed to take it day by day.
“When I was a kid I was terrified of thunderstorms. I grew up in Texas and was so scared that lightning and thunder meant a tornado was coming,” she added as Clips of her childhood were playing. “But my mum gave me these children’s books that explained thunderstorms and lightning and thunder and basically said, ‘The more you learn about it, the less you’ll be afraid of it.’ And that really helped.
The documentary – directed by Alek Keshishian – is set to follow Gomez’s life and career over the past six years. “Every breath. A breakthrough,” reads the on-screen text during the trailer, in which Gomez is seen with tears in his eyes or crying in several clips. But as the trailer moves forward, her tears eventually turn into smiles and laughter.
“my mind and me. We don’t get along sometimes and it gets hard to breathe,” she captioned the trailer. “But I wouldn’t change my life.”
Gomez first publicly discussed her bipolar diagnosis in 2020 during an Instagram Live with fellow Disney star Miley Cyrus.
“Recently I went to one of the best psychiatric hospitals in America, McLean Hospital, and discussed that after years of going through a lot of different things, I realized that I was bipolar,” Gomez told Cyrus. “And so when I got more information, that really helped me. It doesn’t scare me once I know that.
“I write a lot. I think it helped me understand what’s going on,” Gomez said during the live. “A lot of it is about connecting with people you may not have been the best with and may not have thought about. I feel like there’s been a lot of people I’ve had to do this with not necessarily saying it was bad, but just saying, ‘Hey, I hope you’re safe. I hope you are well and that you know you are on my side. I only send you love from this ending.
She later spoke to She in 2021 about her mental health, adding that she “felt a huge weight lifted from me” when she was diagnosed. “I could take a deep breath and say, ‘Okay, that explains so much.'”
Selena Gomez: my mind and me premieres November 4 on Apple TV+.