Selena Gomez Hospitalized For Mental Health: A Timeline of Her Struggles
Selena Gomez is putting her health first.
The 26-year-old singer and actress made headlines on Wednesday, after it was revealed that she was recently hospitalized and seeking treatment at a mental health facility.
A source told ET that it was issues with Gomez's physical health -- she suffers from lupus and underwent a kidney transplant last summer -- and her frustration with it that led her to eventually seek treatment.
While another source told ET that the star "is getting better every day," she shared in a previous interview with Harper's Bazaar that she expects her battle with depression and anxiety to be something she'll face for the rest of her life. She's entered treatment several times over the last few years and has been candid with fans about her desire to stay healthy.
Here's a look back at the times Gomez has spoken about her health struggles.
Checking Into Rehab
The Spring Breakers star spent time at rehab facility in Wickenburg, Arizona, in 2014, after a series of overwhelming life events. "I got diagnosed with lupus. My mom had a very public miscarriage," she recalled in the May 2016 issue of GQ magazine. "So, I had to cancel [13 dates on] my [Stars Dance] tour. I needed time to just be OK."
Lupus Diagnosis
Gomez first opened up about having lupus in a 2015 interview with Billboard magazine, over a year after she checked herself into rehab.
"I was diagnosed with lupus, and I’ve been through chemotherapy," she disclosed. "That’s what my break was really about. I could've had a stroke."
Gomez said the speculation around her recovery did take a toll on her. "I wanted so badly to say, 'You guys have no idea. I'm in chemotherapy. You're a**holes,'" she exclaimed. "I locked myself away until I was confident and comfortable again."
Living With Lupus
Not long after her 2015 Billboard interview, Gomez went on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and further explained her diagnosis and what she went through after first learning of her illness.
"I think it was just very complicated because I didn't understand and then that was something that I did want to keep private until my whole life suddenly wasn't private," she told the talk show host. "So, it was my moment. I'm really honestly able to relate to people and I get it."
"It's kind of one of those situations," she added. "You just have to take care of yourself."
Checking Back Into Rehab
In August 2016, Gomez canceled the remaining dates of her Revival World Tour and checked into a treatment facility in Tennessee, citing that she was having anxiety, panic attacks and depression as a result of her lupus.
"Tours are a really lonely place for me. My self-esteem was shot," she shared in the April issue of Vogue magazine. "I started to have panic attacks right before getting onstage, or right after leaving the stage. Basically I felt I wasn’t good enough, wasn’t capable."
The "Bad Liar" singer added that going to rehab was "one of the hardest things I’ve done, but it was the best thing I’ve done.”
Intense Therapy
Gomez also revealed in the Vogue interview that she sees a therapist five times a week for Dialectical Behavior Therapy, a treatment, according to to the magazine, that was "first developed for patients with borderline personality disorder that is now more widely used to treat conditions like depression."
“DBT has completely changed my life,” she insisted. “I wish more people would talk about therapy."
Kidney Transplant
The 25-year-old singer-actress revealed in July 2017 that her longtime pal, Francia Raisa, donated her kidney. "I found out I needed to get a kidney transplant due to my lupus and was recovering," she captioned a photo of her and Raisa holding hands following the procedure. "It was what I needed to do for my overall health."
A post shared by Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) on Sep 14, 2017 at 3:07am PDT
According to the National Kidney Foundation, lupus can cause "inflammation of the small blood vessels that filter wastes in your kidney -- and sometimes the kidney itself -- by attacking like they would attack a disease."
In a Good Morning America interview in June 2018, Gomez opened up about how her life had changed since the transplant. "Honestly I've just kind of stepped back a bit," she said. "I'm enjoying my life."
"I don't really think about anything that causes me stress anymore, which is really nice," she added. "I don't even live in Los Angeles anymore. I don't pay attention to trying to get people to like me as much."
Preventative Care
Gomez continued to maintain privacy around her personal life and again entered treatment in January 2018, around the time of her split from Justin Bieber. A source told ET at the time that the former Disney star voluntarily checked herself into a two-week wellness program in upstate New York to "regroup" after having a lot on her plate.
"This most recent stint was preventative," the source explained. "She hasn’t relapsed and she's not in a bad place, quite the opposite. She did this to ensure she continues on a good path. It’s super responsible. More people should be proactive about their health and wellness instead of waiting for something bad to happen."
"Anyone who knows me knows I will always start with my health and my well-being," she told Harper's Bazaarin March. "I’ve had a lot of issues with depression and anxiety, and I’ve been very vocal about it, but it’s not something I feel I’ll ever overcome."
"There won’t be a day when I’m like, 'Here I am in a pretty dress -- I won!' I think it’s a battle I’m gonna have to face for the rest of my life, and I’m OK with that because I know that I’m choosing myself over anything else," she added.
Back in Treatment
"Selena has dealt with depression for a while, and [she] and the people around her have always kept an eye on how she feels, even more so since her kidney transplant. Selena wasn’t feeling well and went to the hospital, as she does whenever she feels off. After further monitoring, it was decided that Selena would seek treatment at a [mental health] facility," a source told ET on Thursday.
According to TMZ, the 26-year-old singer went to the hospital twice in the past couple of weeks. The first time came when Gomez was at her Studio City, California, home where she was reportedly in low spirits and emotional over an alarming low white blood cell count.
Gomez was released days later but re-admitted late last week due to continued health issues stemming from her kidney transplant, according to the outlet's source. Per TMZ, the hospitalization drove Gomez to have an "emotional breakdown" where she had a "meltdown" and "freaked out" when she wasn't allowed to leave.
Another source told ET that Gomez and her family decided it was best that she head back to the East Coast mental health facility she went to earlier in the year. According to the source, the "Wolves" singer is now following doctors' advice in order to get better.
"Selena is a fighter and we will be back in no time, but for now she is listening to the doctors and staying healthy with exercise, a diet plan and being monitored by doctors at the facility," the source said.
See more on the singer in the video below.
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