Award-winning singer opens up on her bipolar disorder diagnosis

Global music sensation Selena Gomez has opened up about her bipolar disorder and the sense of relief she felt upon the diagnosis. The singer was also diagnosed with lupus in 2014 and subsequently underwent a kidney transplant and chemotherapy.

Selena Gomez was quoted as saying by a magazine, “I felt a huge weight lifted off me when I found out. I could take a deep breath and go, ‘Okay, that explains so much.’ There were all things that honestly should have taken me down. Every time I went through something, I was like, ‘What else? What else am I going to have to deal with?’ You’re going to help people.’ [That is] really what kept me going.” 

She added that staying away from social media majorly helped her deal with her anxiety issues. “I’m like, ‘I’ve got to do something [more]. After I’m gone, I want people to remember me for my heart,’ This tiny little phone that had 150 million people on it — I just put it down. That was such a relief for me. There could have been a time when I wasn’t strong enough and would have done something to hurt myself,” the singer further specified.

According to a chief clinical psychologist, Bipolarity is a mood disorder which is characterised by mood swings. There are two phases of bipolarity — bipolar mania and the depressive phase. In the mania phase, a person is generally highly overactive. He/she does not sleep much and the cardinal symptom is that there is a lack of sleep. The other phase is the depressive phase where your mood is low.