Selena Gomez has opened up about how she was misdiagnosed before eventually being told she had bipolar disorder.
The Wizards of Waverley Place alum has had her fair share of health concerns in her 33 years on planet Earth, memorably undergoing a kidney transplant back in 2017 having been diagnosed with lupus four years prior.
Gomez, who is also a billionaire businesswoman thanks in part to her own cosmetic company Rare Beauty, was speaking on the 'Friends Keep Secrets' podcast alongside her husband Benny Blanco, when she shared more insight into her own mental health journey.
She said: "I knew something was wrong, but I think I was misdiagnosed. People were just assuming, and I would try multiple therapists. And that’s why it’s hard. It’s actually really hard when we’re talking about these things.
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"And for me to go get a therapist, all of it is so f---ing complicated."
The singer suggested that she had to speak to 'multiple different people' until she was finally able to get the correct diagnosis, and urged other people to never give up in their own health journeys, since receiving clarity can often take so long in the health care system.
Her own diagnosis with bipolar disorder, which is commonly characterised by the mood swings that it causes, has helped but Blanco suggested that she still has 'moments where she’s having mania and she doesn’t know.
The record producer, whose podcast has exposed some controversial hygienic choices, added: "She’ll start to realise she’s having it after it’s happening, and sometimes she doesn’t even remember when it’s happening.
"It’s such a delicate thing because you’re not supposed to technically talk to that person about it while they’re deep in it. And it’s like, even dating her and she’s so hyperaware, she’ll be like, 'I think I’m feeling a little manic.' "
After going to 'four different rehabs', the Only Murders in the Building star has become far more comfortable with her own health diagnosis, and suggested that her 'moments of mania' are never something that she is ashamed of.
She said: "I’m not ashamed at all because I can catch them a bit quicker. But it is helpful to have a partner that will understand where the temperature is at and meet you where you are, and then you gradually understand what’s happening."
Gomez, also emphasised that, as with many other health conditions, understanding and experience is the key to helping you live more 'freely' and avoiding the judgement of others who might not be as well informed.
She concluded: "That’s the problem with misconception. The whole hypocrisy of shaming people for therapy or people not understanding it is that it’s just not for you. That’s completely fine, but for me, it finally allowed me to go, ‘Oh, that’s why I handled things the way I handled it. That’s why all the other people were able to get over things so quickly and I wasn’t.'
"I would act out of fear, I would act out of love, I would act out of passion. It was all inconsistent, it was crazy."
Topics: Selena Gomez, Mental Health, Celebrity News, Benny Blanco
James Moorhouse