Selena Gomez says her bipolar diagnosis has helped her "understand" her emotions.
The ‘Lose You to Love Me’ hitmaker opened up about being diagnosed with the mental health condition – which causes extreme mood swings – earlier this year, and has now said being able to put a label on her feelings has helped her process the way her brain works, and has made her feel more "comfortable".
She said: "I have always had so many different emotions and I didn’t know how to control them quite well. It was complicated. But I think I’m happy to understand it. Once I did find out more about who I was, I was proud. I also felt comfortable knowing that I wasn’t alone, and I was going to get through it. So I will always be passionate about that. It’s something I will continue to talk about."
To keep her mental health in check, Selena limits her time on social media, and recently handed over control of her Instagram account for two weeks to educational programming created by influential leaders in the Black Lives Matter movement.
Speaking about her decision to let Black leaders speak out, she added: "There was so much that I didn’t know. I was so upset with how people were being treated, and having people in my life that have dealt with that for years, telling me stories that they’ve never told me before.
"That’s why what I did with my social media was extremely important – having all of these different voices share their experiences. I didn’t want to be someone that was going to just post something [or make a] donation."
The ‘Wolves’ singer, 28, also spoke about her own experiences with racism, when she and her father – who is of Mexican descent – were discriminated against during her early childhood.
She said: "It was back in Texas. They used a derogatory term [to refer to] my father, and I just remember him being like, ‘Don’t say anything, don’t do anything.’ "