Most people can agree that the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has been a challenging time. Selena Gomez admitted during a recent Instagram Live discussion how she “went into a bit of a depression” during the early days of quarantine.
Selena Gomez explained how she felt in the early days of the pandemic
During an Instagram Live discussion with former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy on Oct. 11, World Mental Health Day, Gomez shed some light on how she felt during the early days of the pandemic.
“In the beginning, I couldn’t deal with it that well,” Gomez admitted, when asked how she was handling this time. “I kind of went into a bit of a depression. Then I started going into a place where I was really writing and being active and then I guess it just forced me to have that time.”
Gomez credited time with “quality people” and “spending a lot more time with my family” as some of the ways she coped.
She said she’s “become normalized in this situation that’s not normal,” but shared the challenge of being someone who makes connections with people for her career. “I mean, my job is a lot of travel, connecting with people, making people happy and that makes me happy,” she explained. “So, it has been a struggle.”
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Selena Gomez is staying creative and busy
Gomez explained how diving into work has helped her work her way through these trying times. The actor and singer released her Rare Beauty beauty line and has been actively recording music again.
“I would say right now I’m fully coming out again, and I just think I had to handle it the way I needed to handle it,” she explained. “And I got through that with the right people and doing the right things and doing the right steps to not make me go crazy.”
Gomez revealed why she had to stop using social media
As a celebrity, Gomez understands the value of using social media to connect with her fans, but decided to step away from it because it can be so damaging to mental health.
The entertainer hasn’t had any social media apps on her phone for two years, though she does use the platforms occasionally.
“Though I use the platform, I make sure I approve and write things I want to write but I don’t look at it and it’s not on my phone,” she explained. “So, I believe heavily that there is something about social media and it’s technology getting blamed for increases in loneliness and disconnection.”
Gomez discovered how damaging it was to her personally because she’s in the spotlight and people can be so critical.
“The end take of social media on my end was about my personal life and, you know, then it was used to say these things and I just felt like every day I woke up and I was like, ‘Why am I doing this?,’” she explained. “Like, if I’m constantly doing things wrong or if they think I’m this sellout, fake, not real, not authentic — which is every part of my being — these words hurt and they add nothing to my life and the truth is they’re lies.”
She added, “So, that is how I handled it by saying, ‘You know what? I’m going to step out of this because I don’t think it’s helping me at all.’”