Selena Gomez Gets Candid About The ‘Sick’ Way She Treated Herself During ‘Rock Bottom’ Moments

Selena Gomez is opening up about the lowest lows of her mental health journey.

While participating in SXSW panel Mindfulness Over Perfection: Getting Real On Mental Health earlier this week, the 31-year-old reflected on the negative self-talk she used to cast upon herself during some of her “rock bottom” moments — including those specifically in her doc, My Mind & Me. She said:

“It makes me sick to hear the things that I was saying about myself in the beginning. It bums me out. 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.”

As fans will know, the documentary was shot over six years and covered a LOT of her mental health struggles — including her bipolar disorder diagnosis. She added:

“It’s taught me a lot about myself. It’s weird being able to see myself so long ago saying those things that I would never say to myself now.”

Later in the interview, the Only Murders in the Building star revealed that the moment she was inspired to talk more openly about her mental health came after she and her mom, Mandy Teefey, watched Girl, Interrupted together a LONG time ago. She recalled:

“My mom, I have to be honest, was very open and vocal about how I was feeling, how she was feeling, and I think we watched Girl, Interrupted when I was, like, 12, and I was like, ‘oh, that’s what rehab looks like.’ And I was confused by it, and then we ended up having one of the most honest conversations that we’ve ever had together. And I really appreciated it, and it allowed me to not be scared.”

That’s amazing. In 2021, Selena and her mom founded Wondermind, which is dedicated to destigmatizing conversations about mental health online. But it took work for her to get to that place personally. She added in her interview:

“But I will say this: you can’t force someone to do it. It doesn’t work. There were a lot of people who cared about me more than I cared about myself that really wanted me to do things I wasn’t ready for. I had to hit my rock bottom, and I had to do it at my time, and it took a couple of tries, but I’d like to think and hope that I’m in a much better place now.”

We certainly think she is! Watch the full panel (below):