‘I needed to take it day day’: Selena Gomez on coming to terms with bipolar disorder diagnosis

Selena Gomez is among those celebrities who have, often, candidly talked about their struggles with mental health. In a similar vein, the Ice Cream singer opened up about being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a mental health condition characterised mood swings, in an Instagram live with Miley Cyrus in 2020. “I went to one of the best mental hospitals in America, McClean Hospital, and I discussed that after years of going through a lot of different things, I realised that I was bipolar, I was equal parts terrified and relieved – terrified because the veil was lifted but relieved that I finally had the knowledge of why I had suffered with various depressions and anxieties for so many years,” Selena had told the Midnight Sky singer.
“I never had full awareness or answers about this condition. When I have more information, it actually helps me, it doesn’t scare me once I know it,” she added.
Taking the discussion further, the singer opened up about how she coped with the condition in her new documentary, My Mind & Me, which will be out on Apple TV on November 4.

In a short clip from the film, shared with Vanity Fair, 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?” she said. “I needed to keep learning about it,” she said of the condition further adding, “I needed to take it day day,” she added.

She also opened up about her mother’s advice, something she said helped her in dealing with the fear around her diagnosis. Recalling her childhood days, she said, “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.” she added.
Explaining the condition, Dr Trideep Choudhury, a psychiatr, told , “It is a group of brain disorders that cause extreme fluctuation in a person’s mood, energy, and ability to function.” He added: “There are different kinds of neurotransmitters in our brain like — dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, serotonin, gamma amino butyrate, glutamate, and acetylcholine — which are, in some way, unbalanced. These alterations cause a change in mood such that the person may feel low for a few days, weeks, or months and then can feel cheerful without any reason.”
According to Dr Choudhury, the onset of symptoms generally start between the age of 15 to 30 years. “It is equally dributed among men and women,” he added. “The symptoms of bipolar can vary from having low mood for most of the day to nearly every day, fatiguability, durbed sleep, feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness, decreased interest in previously pleasurable activities, suicidal ideas or being cheerful while in the mania state, excessive talking, inflated self-esteem, excessive involvement in activities that may have painful consequences like sexual indescretions, decreased need to sleep,” he elucidated.
Talking about the treatment the expert said that “if the person becomes violent and harmful then hospitalisation may be needed.”

Earlier on World Mental Health Day, observed on October 10 every year, the singer shared another glimpse of the documentary on her Twitter. “Just be who you are Selena,” she could be seen saying in the trailer. “No one cares about what you’re doing. It’s about who I am, and being okay with where I am. I am grateful to be alive,” she added.

Every breath, a breakthrough. In honor of #WorldMentalHealthDay I wanted to share the trailer for my documentary Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me. November 4 on @AppleTVPlus https://t.co/h8bkDd9mmV pic.twitter.com/2D4HixbCjL
— Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) October 10, 2022
In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, she said, “As nervous as I am to put out something this personal, in my heart I know now is the time. I hope that 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.”

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