Selena Gomez says social media made her feel that she 'wasn't pretty enough'

By Megan Stone

Selena Gomez opened up about the relationship she has with her mental health and how she has learned to advocate for herself.

Speaking to InStyle, the "Lose You to Love Me" singer candidly spoke about how the pandemic affected her thoughts and feelings, which she now manages with self-care and therapy.

"I became aware that my little world is complicated, but the picture is much bigger than the stuff I deal with," Selena said when assessing the past two years. "I have problems with depression and anxiety, and I found it difficult for me to be me."

While she grappled with her mental health, Gomez said she also made strides in becoming a better version of herself.

"At one point Instagram became my whole world, and it was really dangerous. In my early 20s, I felt like I wasn't pretty enough. There was a whole period in my life when I thought I needed makeup and never wanted to be seen without it," she admitted.

Gomez said she learned to "take control of what I was feeling" as she grew older and worked on her self-confidence. This involved "taking a break from social media," which she said "was the best decision that I've ever made for my mental health."

"The unnecessary hate and comparisons went away once I put my phone down," she explained. "I'll have moments where that weird feeling will come back, but now I have a much better relationship with myself."

The Grammy nominee said she is a "big believer in therapy" and said taking care of herself allows her to know when she is "not in the best headspace." Now, she is "changing the narrative of mental health" with her new platform, Wondermind.