Selena Gomez talks life after bipolar disorder diagnosis: 'I could take a deep breath'

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Selena Gomez said after she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in April 2020 she felt like "a huge weight" was lifted off of her. 

The 29-year-old singer/actress told ELLE magazine for its September issue that, "I could take a deep breath and go, ‘Okay, that explains so much,’" regarding her mental health. 

"There were all things that honestly should have taken me down," Gomez admitted. "Every time I went through something, I was like, 'What else? What else am I going to have to deal with?'"

The "Lose You to Love Me" singer went through a tough time after she was diagnosed with lupus in 2014 and then underwent a kidney transplant and chemotherapy.

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"There could have been a time when I wasn't strong enough and would have done something to hurt myself," she admitted.

But repeating the mantra, "‘You’re going to help people.’ [That is] really what kept me going," she said.

The National Institute of Mental Health describes bipolar disorder as a "brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks."

Actress Selena Gomez previously said she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in April 2020.  (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

As Gomez went through treatment for her mental health, she also cut out using social media which the pop star said helped alleviate anxiety. 

"I’m like, ‘I’ve got to do something [more]. After I’m gone, I want people to remember me for my heart,'" she said. "This tiny little phone that had 150 million people on it — I just put it down. That was such a relief for me."

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Gomez revealed her bipolar diagnosis last year on Miley Cyrus’ Instagram Live show "Bright Minded."

The former child star explained, "Recently I went to one of the best mental hospitals in America, McLean Hospital, and I discussed that, after years of going through a lot of different things, I realized that I was bipolar."

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"[Knowing] more information, it actually helps me. It doesn’t scare me once I know it … I wanted to know everything about it, and it took the fear away," she said.