Selena Gomez has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
The 27-year-old singer has revealed she was diagnosed with the mental health condition – in which people experience "manic" episodes in the form of extreme highs, as well as extreme lows such as depression – after visiting McLean Hospital, one of the best mental health institutions in the United States.
She said: "I went to one of the best mental hospitals in America, McLean’s Hospital, and I discussed that after years of going through a lot of different things, I realised that I was bipolar."
And although the diagnosis was scary to come to terms with, the ‘Lose You To Love Me’ hitmaker insists gathering information on the topic helped her come to terms with the illness.
During a chat with Miley Cyrus on her ‘Bright Minded’ livestream on Friday (03.04.20), she added: "When I have more information, it actually helps me, it doesn’t scare me once I know it … When I finally said what I was going to say, I wanted to know everything about it and it took the fear away.
"When I was younger, I was scared of thunderstorms and my mom bought me all these books on thunderstorms and she was like, ‘The more you educate yourself on this, the more that you’re not going to be afraid.’ It completely worked. That’s something that helps me big time."
Selena spent time at McLean Hospital in 2018, after suffering "mentally and emotionally" with a tough time in her life.
The singer was honoured the following year at the hospital’s annual dinner, and she said of her time at the facility: "Last year, I was suffering mentally and emotionally and I wasn’t able to stay all kept up and together. I wasn’t able to keep a smile or to keep things looking normal. It felt like all of my pain and my anxiety washed over me all at once and it was one of the scariest moments of my life.
"I sought support and the doctors were able to give me a clear diagnosis. The moment I received that information, I actually felt equal parts of terrified and relieved. Terrified, obviously, because that veil was lifted, but relieved that I had the knowledge of why I had suffered for so many years with depression and anxiety."
Selena Gomez diagnosed with bipolar disorder
