The Wristband Selena Gomez Is Wearing in Her Latest Instagram Has a Very Personal Backstory
By Christopher Rosa. Photos: Getty Images, Courtesy of Instagram.
In October 2015, Selena Gomez revealed to Billboard magazine that she was diagnosed with lupus, an autoimmune disease that attacks your tissues and organs. One year later, she announced she was entering a facility to seek treatment for lupus-triggered anxiety and depression. A big reason Gomez is so transparent about all of this is to end the speculation about her health. Before coming forward, people and the tabloids took Gomez's frequent trips to the hospital as a sign she was an alcoholic or struggling with some kind of substance abuse. They were filling in the blanks with their own hyperbolic theories.
And they still are. Case in point: Gomez recently uploaded a photo of herself to Instagram—it's most likely a video still for her new song, "Bad Liar"—and fans immediately became transfixed by the yellow "risk" band she has around her wrist. One Instagram user even speculated the wristband implied some kind of suicide attempt. In reality, the band is related to Gomez's lupus.
Photographer Petra Collins went on Instagram and set the record straight. "Selena came straight from the hospital to this shoot—from being there for lupus," Collins wrote. Turns out, this yellow "risk" band is actually what doctors and nurses give patients who are "fall risks." (Some people with lupus have fainting spells.)
According to this American Hospital Association document, "Yellow is a warning to slow down, pay attention, and take special precautions. Nurses review patients all the time to determine if they need extra attention to prevent a fall. Sometimes a person may become weakened during an illness or because of surgery. When a patient has this colored alert wristband, it says that this person needs to be assisted when walking or transferring to help prevent a fall."
There you have it. Now can we stop trying to create a Selena Gomez trainwreck narrative and focus on the important things, like the surefire jam she's dropping soon.
This story originally appeared on Glamour.
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