From Humanity’s Perspective: Selena Gomez & Her Life Under the Public Eye
From her early days in 2007, some people know Selena Gomez as a Disney film star in Barney & Friends, where she first stepped into the spotlight. Her prominence in the industry became evident when she starred in the Disney channel television series, Wizards of Waverly Place, as Alex Russo. Ever since then she has been a part of many projects, toured, released catchy music, started her business and has done philanthropy work. However, even though Selena remains successful to this day, all these years under the public eye have been extremely challenging for her as she has experienced several mental and physical health issues which affected her severely but also contributed to her personality today.
Selena Gomez was diagnosed with lupus, which is a chronic autoimmune disease that can cause inflammation and pain in any part of the body, in the year 2014. The nature of the disease caused a lot of different symptoms including headaches, swelling and fatigue. As a part of her treatment, Selena had to go through chemotherapy and send about two weeks in rehab. During this time period, she had kept off social media however, when the media caught a glimpse of this, rumors about her rehabilitation due to substance abuse were spread. Despite the public pressure and the assumptions of the public, Selena explained her situation after a year in 2015.
Additionally, alongside the physical symptoms of lupus, the psychological and mental issues included depression, anxiety and panic attacks. Throughout her disease, Selena was experiencing all of these which ultimately caused her to return to rehab and spend the next three months there in 2016. As she was in the middle of tour when this happened, the rest of her shows were canceled for the Revival World Tour.
Due to her journey in the industry, Selena was viewed as a role model for many young children and the stigma around her rehabilitation made this entire experience worse for her. The media villainized her and portrayed her as someone who was a bad influence and was going downhill because she could not keep her life together and picture perfect to appease the masses. The media had projected all of these impossible expectations on her and her inability to meet them, ultimately tarnished her image and worsened her condition. In March 2017, Selena Gomez became the most followed on Instagram and even though it may seem like an achievement, it was not that way for her. She was afraid and her obsession with how much she wanted to look at the public’s response to her made her realize the toxicity associated with social media was unhealthy for her. Due to this she left Instagram and gave its control to her assistant.
In 2017, Selena’s disease continued to cause complications for her and she had kidney failure. However, her friend and fellow actress, Francis Raisa, saved her through a kidney transplant, something Selena was immensely grateful for. She received a lot of support and spent two weeks in treatment focusing on herself in 2018.
However, as mental health struggles are uncertain this was short lived and in the same year she was hospitalized after she became despondent and extremely emotional over a low white blood cell count. Her mental condition worsened which caused her to be re hospitalized where she received treatment in the form of behavioral therapy. Selena Gomez was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder which the public got to know about in 2020.
Over the years, Selena used her struggles to grow stronger which helped her create Rare Beauty – her very own cosmetic brand. Her brand aims to empower women and teach them that the unrealistic beauty standards are not achievable, something she herself realized after being affected by them. Selena Gomez is truly an inspirational, strong woman who has strived and struggled and learnt.
