Selena Gomez Reflected On The "Mean" Way Tabloids Treated Her Time In Rehab
Selena Gomez is looking back on how the media has treated her throughout her mental health journey.
Back in 2014, Selena checked into an Arizona rehab facility. The tabloids went wild, speculating that her stay was related to substance abuse or her breakup with Justin Bieber.
In 2015, Selena clarified that her stay was related to her lupus treatment, telling Billboard, “I wanted so badly to say, ‘You guys have no idea. I’m in chemotherapy. You’re assholes.'" She later added that she was feeling burned out and depressed and needed help.
Since then, Selena has been to four treatment centers. Speaking to Vogue Australia, Selena reflected, "I think in mental health, I never understood the stigma until I went to my first treatment center, because that was years ago. But then there was a photograph that got out, and it’s wild to see how mean they were."
"It was like: ‘She’s the next this person, she’s the childhood star,’ whatever. And: ‘She’s doing drugs.’ They’re saying all this stuff about me," Selena continued.
"I’m watching all of that change, slowly but surely, because now, if any media outlet made fun of me, they’re the ones that look like the asshole because we don’t tolerate that anymore."
"It’s actually crazy that I’m watching it happen, even though I know we have so much more to do," she added. "I feel like I practice [Dialectical Behavior Therapy] every day. … And then I also love being in the studio. Because the first hour I’m in a studio, I just talk. It’s like therapy. You just go in and you share your heart.”
When it comes to advice for others struggling with mental health problems, Selena said, "I do believe in medication, obviously, therapy — all of these things I’ve done to try and make myself better. But my advice isn’t going to be: ‘Oh, you’re going to get over it.’ It’s actually an everyday practice."
You can read the full profile here.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness is 1-888-950-6264 (NAMI) and provides information and referral services; GoodTherapy.org is an association of mental health professionals from more than 25 countries who support efforts to reduce harm in therapy.
