Selena Gomez Shares Mental Health Struggles In 'My Mind & Me'
Selena Gomez is opening up about her health in her new documentary "My Mind & Me," releasing on Apple TV+ Friday.
The documentary outlines a six-year span of Gomez's life, and includes visits to her Texas hometown, press tours, a volunteer trip to Kenya and several stints in mental health facilities.
"After years in the limelight, Selena Gomez achieves unimaginable stardom," a description for the film reads. "But just as she reaches a new peak, an unexpected turn pulls her into darkness. This uniquely raw and intimate documentary spans her six-year journey into a new light."
The film, which initially started as a documentary of Gomez's 2016 "Revival" tour was shelved after the singer started to experience health issues.
"I wasn't well. That's actually the only answer," Gomez said about the film in an interview with Vulture. "I wasn't well and I couldn't continue. I had to cancel what I needed to cancel in order to live."
She later picked things up again with director Alek Keshishian, who directed her music video for "Hands to Myself," as well as Madonna's 1991 documentary "Madonna: Truth or Dare." After watching that film seven times, Gomez knew she wanted him to direct her story because of authenticity.
"I think sometimes in my position, you can be unattainable," Gomez said. "But she [Madonna] was so relatable that your heart was with her."
Gomez, whose career began as a child, was propelled to stardom after starring on Disney Channel's "Wizards of Waverly Place." She followed that up with three studio albums and several other projects, but began to take a step back from the limelight after an initial 2014 Lupus diagnosis and later, bipolar disorder, anxiety and depression.
Though she has spoken openly about her health in the past, Gomez lets fans in a different way with the new film.
One way she shares in the film is through several diary entries which reveal her raw moments and thoughts as she struggled with her mental health diagnosis.
"I have to stop living like this. Why have I become so far from the light? Everything I ever wished for, I've had and done all of it. But it has killed me. Because there's always Selena," she reads at one point.
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