Selena Gomez Opens Up About Being Attacked On Social Media For Her Fluctuating Weight - 'That Really Messed Me Up'

Selena Gomez is opening up about some of the hardships she has experienced in the past few years.

Most notably, being on different medications for Lupus (a hyperactive auto-immune disease) has caused her weight to fluctuate at times, and “people started attacking” her online because of it.

In an episode of friend Raquelle Stevens‘ Giving Back Generation vodcast (video podcast), the 27-year-old detailed the various pressures she has faced and how she copes with them.

Just because Gomez is a celebrity doesn’t mean she doesn’t also feel anxiety brought on by social media, she explained:

“I want people to have a good relationship with social media. It’s not going anywhere anytime soon. But knowing that real world’s in front of you and trying to pay attention to that is healthy. When I make an effort to post on social media or do what I’m doing, it’s important for me to make sure it’s 100 percent authentic and once I post it, I post it. That’s it.”

She added:

“…I see so many beautiful girls and amazing different characters and then they’re just demolished by an image that they’re trying to chase. Their wanting to be a completely different person but that’s not what’s inside of them, you know? But I get it. I look at other people’s pages—or I used to—and I’m like, okay, I need to fix myself.”

Unfortunately, the Lose You To Love Me songstress has also been demolished. She vulnerably described what it has been like to have online commenters “attacking” her over her weight:

“I experienced that with my weight fluctuation for the first time. I have lupus and deal with kidney issues and high blood pressure so I deal with a lot of health issues and for me that’s when I really started noticing more of the body image stuff. No, [the lupus doesn’t affect my weight]; it’s the combination of all of it. It’s the medication I have to take for the rest of my life—it depends on even the month, to be honest. So for me, I really noticed when people started attacking me for that. In reality, that’s just my truth. I fluctuate. It depends what’s happening in my life. Right [it’s totally out of my control], and that got to me big time. I think for me, that really messed me up for a bit.”

The former Disney star added this eventually wore her down and contributed to a decision to briefly take a social media hiatus last fall. Selena has since returned to Instagram and seems to have a healthier relationship with the app:

“I’m very happy with living my life. We were talking about it earlier, being in the present because that’s it. Similar to me posting a photo then walking away, for me that’s it. I’ll do a red carpet, I’ll do whatever, I don’t need to see it. I did it. I participated. I felt wonderful and that’s where the extent of it is. I don’t care to expose myself to everyone and hear what they have to say about it.”

Luckily, turning to faith and friendships have helped guide her through the tough times:

“I think once I started to really understand my spirituality, and believing in something much bigger than myself was very important for me. Because I don’t believe that I can do this life alone. I know that we’re not perfect. I know that what I read in the Word that I live in is all kinds of stories of pain and trials and redemption and restoration, so I believe that so much, but it’s my friends too. You guys help me through a lot of it and you walk through most of it with me.”

She’s lucky to have such a fantastic support system to get through these ups and downs!

What do U think of everything Selena had to say, Perezcious readers? Sound OFF (below) in the comments with your take.

[Image via Selena Gomez/Instagram.]