Selena Gomez Opens Up About Mental Health and Alone Time

Selena Gomez has done her first big interview of the year, appearing on Coach’s first episode of its new Dream It Real podcast.

She spoke about being true to herself, going to therapy, why she doesn’t want to be called pretty, and when her fans can expect her new album.

Here are some highlights from the interview.

On understanding her heart:

“I don’t really think that people know my heart,” Gomez says. “I think that sometimes people may think that I politically say the right thing or I’m safe or I’ve been trained to speak this way. I don’t know how to be trained, like how on earth would somebody be training me to speak things?”

Selena Gomez — Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP / Getty Images

“I think that a lot of people don’t understand my heart, you know?” Gomez continues. “And I also don’t like that, it can be sometimes about appearance too. I don’t really appreciate people judging me on my looks, or anything like that.”

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When asked what she means by that, Gomez explains, “I just think that the world today, with so much exposure to everything…it’s great to dress up and to feel beautiful and to do those things, but…and I’m flattered when, maybe, guys are like, ‘You’re pretty.’ I am, it’s just not…I would just love someone to love me for the person that I am.”

On when we can expect a new album:

“Working on this new record, I just wanted it to be me, all me (so no collaborations). Every song is a story I’ve experienced. To that point, I think there’s no one who’s going to tell my story better than myself. I just really wanted to kind of just live with my story a bit and create it into something that means a lot to me.”

On how fans can learn from her experiences:

“You’re enough. You’re absolutely enough. And if you deal with things that are really difficult like family issues, or anxiety, depression or substance issues, I just think that you’re never too far gone. I really believe that. I think every person is valuable and important and we are all equal and not to, I always feel like I get cheesy, but it’s genuinely from my heart.”

“I care about the world and the only message that I would say is that you’re enough. That you are valued and even if you feel absolutely alone, that there are millions of people that feel that way, and I want to encourage them to get to know who they are and it’s really hard. It’s really, really hard.”

Selena Gomez Coach Hosts Meet + Greet with Selena Gomez at The Grove — Photo by Getty Images

“I don’t want people to think it’s labeled on and it’s gone. I spent years of my life trying to navigate who I am and overcome so many obstacles. So I don’t think it’s easy. I believe in people and I’ve seen amazing people go through the hardest things, and it inspires me.”

On how Instagram can be unhealthy:

“It is not that healthy to be on it all the time because I noticed with me, I got kind of depressed looking at these people who look beautiful and amazing, and it would just get me down a lot so I just think taking breaks is really important.”

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“But just know that most of it isn’t real. And I hate to say that, I don’t mean to be rude, but it’s very unrealistic in a lot of ways, and I think that for me, I want to protect the youngest generation because they are exposed to so much information, and I feel like that causes a lot of anxiety at the youngest age.”

“Like, I didn’t grow up with that. I had dial-up internet. I think that sometimes people are exposed to too much, and you should really protect what you’re seeing and be mindful, be really mindful of how it makes you feel.”

Check out the Dream It Real podcast here.