Selena Gomez Lets Down Her Walls, Opens Up About 'Rock Bottom'

31-year-old Selena Gomezis letting down her walls as she opens up about her mental health, bipolar disorder, body dysmorphia, and lupus -- all of which was documented in her 2022 documentary 'My Mind & Me'.

Gomez attended a panel at SXSW on Sunday, where she admitted how hard it is to think about her past and how hard she used to be on herself.

For years, Selena Gomez has been advocating mental health, advising those who are struggling, especially in figuring out who to trust, is to "start with listening."

"One of the key components of a friendship for me is trust. I would also say: Be careful with who you trust. Hopefully, someone can just hear you out and not judge you," Gomez said at the time, adding, "I believe in unconditional love and that if you can’t be your authentic self, maybe you shouldn’t be around those people.”

She then released a documentary, which was shot over six years, and took fans into Gomez's life, exposing both the positive and the negative aspects.

“It makes me sick to hear the things that I was saying about myself in the beginning. It bums me out,” the former Disney Channel actress admitted," 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 [at the start of the film]."

So, if Gomez gets "sick" thinking about her past, why did she make a documentary?

“There [were] a lot of people that cared about me more than I cared about myself that really wanted me to do things I wasn’t ready for," she said, "I had my rock bottom, and I had to do it in my time."

The 'Only Murders in the Building' actress admitted she wanted to be more open about her mental health battles because she felt as though she didn’t “fit in” within the entertainment industry.

“It took a couple of tries, but I like to think and hope I’m in a much better place now,” she concluded at the panel.

In May 2022, during the Mental Health Youth Action Forum, she talked about mental health, stating, “I want to ensure that everyone—no matter their age, their race, religion, sexual orientation—has access for services that support their mental health."

She added, "And I want to challenge other businesses and individuals to make a difference in the world by taking action to de-stigmatize mental health. We need as much help as we can possibly get developing resources and services and increasing access to those services for young people.”

In December 2023, before the two went public, Gomez hinted at her new relationship when speaking to Vogue México y Latinoamérica.

“Honestly, I have to start being attracted to the right kind of people, because it’s a bit of both,” she told the magazine. “It’s very difficult to find someone who can listen to you and care about you, but I know that when it happens, it will be great and you will want it to be healthy.”

Gomez shared two new photos of Benny Blanco on her Instagram story just a few days later.

Before Blanco, Gomez was involved in other famous relationships, including Justin Bieber and The Weeknd.

“I firmly believe that everything in my life happens for a reason,” she said of these past relationships. “I always try to say, ‘What's the lesson here? I want to learn the lesson and I want to grow from this'.”

She added, “I want to experience what it's like to get through those moments that are really difficult.”

After Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco went official, a source told Entertainment Tonight that the two had become more serious within the past couple of months.

“Selena and Benny have been casually seeing each other for a while and more recently, it became more official,” the source said at the time. “Things have been going really well between them and Selena is happy. She thinks Benny is very funny and of course, extremely talented. Selena is in a great place in her life and feels content and relaxed."

Concluding with, "She is enjoying where things are going.”