Selena Gomez shares her experience overcoming mental health struggles at SXSW

Over the past few years, Selena Gomez has used her massive platform to advocate for mental health and has become a leading activist challenging the stigma surrounding it. She continued this trend Sunday evening, when she spoke about her experience overcoming mental health with SXSW attendees.

In 2022, her “My Mind & Me” documentary was released. The film followed her struggle with physical and mental health after her diagnosis of lupus. Over a six-year period, the documentary captured some of her most intimate and vulnerable moments dealing with depression and anxiety stemming from her diagnosis. 

Gomez recently co-founded Wondermind, a media company dedicated to mental health, with her mother, Mandy Teefey. Teefey, who joined her daughter at the SXSW panel, said the organization is focused on transforming the accessibility of mental health resources. Teefey said they want to create a safe space online where someone can explore what they need to know about themselves and how they feel. The company’s website has an array of mental health articles and podcasts.

Gomez and Teefey were joined by psychotherapist Dr. Corey Yeager and NFL defensive lineman Solomon Thomas for the discussion. During the panel, they touched on overcoming negative thoughts and dealing with shame and guilt. Gomez said she was terrified during the production of her documentary. 

“It was probably one of the hardest moments in my life,” she said. “Makes me sick to hear the things I was saying about myself. It bums me out.”

Despite the documentary highlighting one of the toughest moments in her life, she said she was grateful for what she learned during her journey.

“I think the moment [the documentary released], I felt this insane amount of release because there wasn’t any hiding anymore,” Gomez said. “It has helped release a lot of anxiety.”

Here are some lessons we learned from Selena Gomez during the panel “Mindfulness Over Perfection: Real on Mental Health:” 

Sometimes we need to go through hard times.

• Gomez said she dealt with many problems that resulted in her being in a dark place.
• “There were a lot of people who cared more about me than I cared about myself,” she said.
• She said she needed to experience her journey.
• “I had to hit my rock bottom and I had to do it on my own time,” she said.

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Be kind to yourself.

• Gomez said that negative talk during her journey had a destructive impact.
• “It’s important to speak to yourself with kindness.” she said.
• As a result, she has overcome many of the challenges she once faced.
• “I like to think and hope that I’m in a much better place now,” Gomez said.