Inside Selena Gomez's Health Struggles, in Her Own Words
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Selena Gomez is more than holding her own alongside comedy icons Steve Martin and Martin Short in Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building, which is now airing its third season. But behind-the-scenes, the accomplished actress and singer has long been facing a serious battle when it comes to her physical and mental health.
The 31-year-old star, who has been open about her struggle with lupus, has endured major bouts of complications with her illness, all in the public eye. In addition, she recently opened up in the 2022 Apple TV+ documentary, Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me, about mental health issues that culminated in a bipolar disorder diagnosis.
To celebrate her bravery in the face of these silent foes, we’re taking a look back at what she's shared about her personal journey. Here's all you need to know about Selena Gomez’s health, based on what she's revealed to the public so far.
Related: The Biggest Bombshells From 'Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me'
Is Selena Gomez sick?
Selena Gomez has been very candid with the public when it comes to her ongoing battle with lupus. The autoimmune disease causes chronic inflammation throughout the body, possibly impacting the skin, joints, heart, kidneys, lungs and even more. This inflammation can cause a host of complications, including chronic pain, extreme fatigue, frequent fevers, skin rashes, kidney damage, heart problems and even mental health problems like depression.
In addition to dealing with lupus, in the 2022 Apple TV+ documentary Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me, Gomez got very candid about her mental health struggles in her 20s, which culminated in a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, “People with bipolar experience high and low moods—known as mania and depression—which differ from the typical ups-and-downs most people experience.”
These mood swings can impact not only the patient's sleep, energy, activity, judgment and behavior, but also their ability to think clearly.
Gomez herself has described her struggle in an interview with Rolling Stone in 2022. “I'm going to be very open with everybody about this: I've been to four treatment centers. I think when I started hitting my early twenties is when it started to get really dark, when I started to feel like I was not in control of what I was feeling, whether that was really great or really bad."
Related: Selena Gomez Shares Selfie With 'Favorite People' Steve Martin and Martin Short
What illness does Selena Gomez have?
Selena Gomez has spent decades of her young life battling both physical and mental health problems. The singer/actress/beauty mogul has the autoimmune disease lupus, which has caused numerous health complications for the former Disney star.
She's also struggled with her mental health, enduring debilitating bouts of depression and anxiety starting in her early 20s that eventually led to her diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
What is Selena Gomez’s lupus disease?
Lupus is a very serious autoimmune disorder that causes chronic inflammation in the body. This inflammation typically causes a host of health complications, which can include kidney damage, horrible chronic pain, overwhelming fatigue, persistent skin rashes, fevers, heart damage and even mental health issues like depression, among other symptoms.
Related: 5 Surprising Facts About Lupus
Gomez opened up to Elle in 2021 about her struggles with both her physical and mental health. “My lupus, my kidney transplant, chemotherapy, having a mental illness, going through very public heartbreaks—these were all things that honestly should have taken me down." She went on to describe the mindset that helped her, “[Thinking] ‘You’re going to help people.’ That’s really what kept me going.”
Why did Selena Gomez have a kidney transplant?
In a 2017 reveal, Selena Gomez documented on Instagram how complications with lupus led to the singer needing a life-saving kidney transplant. In fact, as many as 60% of lupus patients will develop kidney complications.
According to Dr. Gary Gilkeson, a professor of medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina (via the Lupus Foundation of America), lupus causes the body to turn on itself. “Instead of the immune system fighting off things like infection and cancer, it turns against the individual and starts acting on their own organs.”
When it comes to Gomez’s specific case, her lupus caused enough kidney damage where she required a kidney transplant at the age of 24. Facing a years-long waiting list to receive a new kidney, the singer would have had to go on dialysis ("a type of treatment that helps your body remove extra fluid and waste products from your blood when the kidneys aren't able to," according to the Kidney Foundation)—if not for the wonderful, selfless gift from her dear friend Francia Raisa, who stepped up and donated her own kidney.
Gomez praised her brave friend, who is currently best known for her role in Hulu’s How I Met Your Father. “There aren’t words to describe how I can possibly thank my beautiful friend Francia Raisa. She gave me the ultimate gift and sacrifice by donating her kidney to me. I am incredibly blessed. I love you so much sis.”
Will Selena Gomez get better?
Unfortunately, at this time, there is no cure for lupus. While the autoimmune disease can be managed with treatment, it will not go away completely.
Selena Gomez is in a more fortunate place than others with the disorder due to her fame and success, which allows her access to treatment. For many people with lupus, the cost of maintaining a chronic illness can be prohibitive, plunging them into debt due to the cost of healthcare in the United States. Mild lupus can cost a sufferer as much as $13,000 per year, with severe cases averaging a whopping $68,000 annually.
When it comes to Gomez’s mental-health struggles, the actress is similarly in for a lifelong battle. Not only has her lupus caused her mental health issues like panic attacks, anxiety and depression, she also has bipolar disorder to contend with. Bipolar disorder also has no cure at this time, but can be treated with medication.
Due to her mental and physical health struggles, Gomez has become a vocal advocate for both. At a roundtable at the White House with first lady Jill Biden and U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy in 2022, Gomez revealed, “I hope that by using my platform to share my own story ... I can help others feel less alone.”
Related: Francia Raísa Clarifies Why She Donated Her Kidney to Selena Gomez
What happened to Selena Gomez’s voice?
When Only Murders in the Building first premiered on Hulu in 2021, many of Selena Gomez’s fans noted that the star’s voice sounded different. While some of this change can be attributed to the actress growing up in the public eye and therefore undergoing a normal vocal maturity, some of it may be caused by her ongoing battle with lupus. A study published in PLOS One in 2017 found that those with lupus had “significantly lower vocal intensity and harmonics to noise ratio, as well as increased jitter and shimmer.” Gomez has not commented on any changes to her voice.
What has Selena Gomez said about her weight gain?
Due to the medications she takes to treat her lupus, Gomez has experienced some physical changes—and has been subjected to relentless body-shaming as a result.
The star got candid in a TikTok livestream, saying, “[When I'm taking my medication, I] tend to hold a lot of water weight, and that happens very normally. When I'm off of it, I tend to lose weight. I just wanted to say and encourage anyone out there who feels any sort of shame for exactly what they're going through, and no one knows the real story."
She added, "I just want people to know that you're beautiful, and you're wonderful. Yeah, we have days where maybe we feel like s---, but I would rather be healthy and take care of myself. My medications are important, and I believe that they're what helps me."
On an episode of Raquelle Stevens's video podcast, Giving Back Generation, Gomez spoke about the impact the body-shaming has had on her. “I experienced [body-shaming] with my weight fluctuation for the first time… I have lupus and deal with kidney issues and high blood pressure, so I deal with a lot of health issues, and for me, that’s when I really started noticing more of the body image stuff."
She continued, “It’s the medication I have to take for the rest of my life—it depends on even the month, to be honest. So for me, I really noticed when people started attacking me for that. In reality, that’s just my truth. I fluctuate. It depends what’s happening in my life. [It's totally out of my control], and that got to me big time. I think for me, that really messed me up for a bit."
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