Selena Gomez said her 'problems' with depression and anxiety made it 'difficult for me to be me'
- Selena Gomez opened up about mental health during a recent interview with InStyle.
- The 29-year-old star said the past two years made her aware that her "little world is complicated."
Selena Gomez said she's been prioritizing her mental health during a recent interview with InStyle.
When asked what the past two years have been like for her, Gomez replied: "I became aware that my little world is complicated, but the picture is much bigger than the stuff I deal with."
"I have problems with depression and anxiety, and I found it difficult for me to be me," she continued, though she described her life as "extremely blessed."
Gomez has been vocal about breaking the stigma of mental illness for several years. In 2018, she described depression and anxiety as "a battle I'm gonna have to face for the rest of my life."
"I'm OK with that because I know that I'm choosing myself over anything else," she said.
During the wide-ranging interview, Gomez also revealed her troubled relationship with social media
The 29-year-old star also opened up to InStyle about her strained relationship with social media, particularly as one of the most-followed women on Instagram.
"At one point Instagram became my whole world, and it was really dangerous," she said. "In my early 20s, I felt like I wasn't pretty enough. There was a whole period in my life when I thought I needed makeup and never wanted to be seen without it."
Gomez was previously the most-followed person on Instagram until 2018 when she was overtaken by Portuguese soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo. She currently sits at No. 7 on the list of the app's most popular users with 287 million followers, behind stars like Kylie Jenner and Ariana Grande.
"The older I got, the more I evolved and realized that I needed to take control of what I was feeling," Gomez continued. "I wanted to be able to look in the mirror and feel confident to be who I am. Taking a break from social media was the best decision that I've ever made for my mental health."
Gomez said she doesn't have access to her social media passwords, and that her distance from "unnecessary hate and comparisons" online has helped her cultivate "a much better relationship" with herself.
Back in 2019, the Rare Beauty founder revealed she doesn't even have the Instagram app on her phone.