Selena Gomez is reflecting on her 2022 documentary, My Mind & Me, and recalling her mindset from the time it was released. While speaking at SXSW in March 2024, she confessed to feeling “sick” over watching the darkness she experienced mentally and physically.
“It makes me sick to hear the things that I was saying about myself in the beginning. It bums me out,” Selena said during her appearance at SXSW’s “Mindfulness Over Perfection: Getting Real on Mental Health” panel. “But I think everybody can relate to that feeling. It’s important to speak to yourself with kindness, but I don’t think I really understood that [at the beginning of the film].”
Selena has become an advocate for mental health throughout her career while also dealing with physical changes in her body. Last year, the Golden Globe Award nominee opened up about her health battle in a recent episode of the Apple TV+ series Dear. In it, the pop star/actress shared that her 2014 lupus diagnosis came with a stroke warning and that the medication used to treat it causes her weight to fluctuate.
“So, hearing from a doctor, ‘You could have had a stroke onstage, you could have died’ — it was a lot. But I didn’t allow it to sink in; I didn’t want to process it,” the Only Murders in the Building vet explained on the show. She added, “My weight would constantly fluctuate because I would be on certain medications and obviously, people just ran with it. I was being shamed for gaining weight because of my lupus.”
The “Good for You” hitmaker even admitted that she “lied” about the negativity not having an effect on her. “I was posting these things saying it doesn’t bother me because I didn’t want it to bother other people who are experiencing the same thing,” she added. “I just think it’s so unfair; I don’t think that anybody deserves to feel less than.”
As Selena appears to have a new outlook on her mental and physical health, here is everything to know about Selena’s health struggles, how she’s doing today and more.
Selena Gomez Was Diagnosed With Lupus
In January 2014, Selena made headlines for secretly completing a two-week stay in an Arizona rehab facility. While social media went wild with rumors, the star was quick to let her fans know that the stay was far from scandalous. “I was diagnosed with lupus, and I’ve been through chemotherapy. That’s what my break was really about,” she revealed to Billboard at the time.
As for the negative press surrounding the treatment facility visit, she added, “I wanted so badly to say, ‘You guys have no idea. I’m in chemotherapy. You’re a******.’ I locked myself away until I was confident and comfortable again.”
What Is Lupus?
Lupus is an autoimmune condition that causes chronic inflammation in many parts of the body, like the skin, joints, heart, kidneys, lungs, and more, according to the Mayo Clinic. This leads to a spectrum of symptoms and possible complications, like persistent pain, overwhelming fatigue, skin rashes, frequent fevers, kidney damage, heart problems, and mental health disorders like depression, among others.
How Long Has Selena Been Sick?
As mentioned, Selena received the diagnosis in 2014 and has been battling it ever since. In September 2017, Selena took to her Instagram to let fans know how serious the condition had become. “So I found out I needed to get a kidney transplant due to my Lupus and was recovering. It was what I needed to do for my overall health.” In the same post, she thanked one of her besties, Francia Raisa, for donating a kidney.
Recently, on the Apple TV+ show, Selena gushed even more about Francia, saying she “will never ever, ever be more in debt to a person than Francia,” and added that “the idea of someone not even second-guessing to be a donor was unbelievably overwhelming.”
How Is Selena Doing Today?
Although Selena received a successful kidney transplant, it doesn’t mean she’s in the clear. “Kidney transplant only reverses the problem that Lupus created in the kidneys. It can control the Lupus, but can’t cure it,” Beverly Hills Rheumatologist Dr. David S. Hallegua told HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY. “The Lupus isn’t fully cured, it’s still present with her throughout her life. Selena will still have to take her medication and undergo treatment to suppress it,” he added.
Selena Gomez goes live on TikTok to address comments about her body. She talks about her health, medication for lupus and how they affect her body. pic.twitter.com/JL3hIArShB
— Selena Gomez News (@OfficialSGnews) February 16, 2023
Living with lupus, as well as mental health issues and the constant scrutiny in the public eye — see any of her Bieber drama — hasn’t slowed Selena down, however. “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 told Elle in August 2021. Telling herself that she can “help people” with her diagnosis was a turning point. “That’s really what kept me going. There could have been a time when I wasn’t strong enough, and would have done something to hurt myself.” Now, it appears, Selena is stronger than ever.