"It makes me feel normal": Selena Gomez opens up on bipolar diagnosis and why she hasn't been on the internet for four and a half years

American actress and singer Selena Gomez opened up about her mental health and how she has been off social media for many years.

In an interview with Good Morning America, the Wizards of Waverly Place star spoke about her decision to step away from social media and even the internet for four and a half years and how it has changed her life "completely."

"I am happier, I am more present, I connect more with people. It makes me feel normal. I understand how powerful the Internet is, and in so many ways it's done the best things for the world. But for me, I get to my news that is actually important I get through people in my life."

She also added that being diagnosed with bipolar disorder helped her in a way. Gomez said that after stepping away, she started building a relationship with herself, and "that’s the best part."

"I’ve probably been the happiest I’ve ever been. My mom knows.”

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Selena Gomez is launching her new platform called Wondermind

In conversation with GMA, Selena Gomez shared that she is starting Wondermind, a mental wellness brand that offers free online tools, with her mother, Mandy Teefey, and entrepreneur Daniella Pierson.

The platform, as Pierson described it, aims to normalize talking about these mental conditions that maybe people thought they knew about but express themselves in different ways in different individuals.

Wondermind will provide content, tools, and exercises vetted by an expert committee comprised of the best psychiatrists, therapists, and social workers in the world.

In the interview, Selena Gomez explained how her own struggles with mental health led her to create the platform.

“Growing up in the spotlight has definitely taught me so much. I can’t believe that I am where I am mentally just because how I took the necessary steps in order to kind of remove myself from that. Because it’s just not normal.”

She further explained how she wants to be known for the ways she cares about people.

"Those days where I don’t want to get out of bed — if I had something like Wondermind, even if it took me a minute to get into it, it’s just there. And there’s something that’s really comforting about that.”

In 2020, while talking to Miley Cyrus during an Instagram Live session, Gomez revealed that she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Earlier in 2016, Selena Gomez revealed that she had anxiety, panic attacks, and depression as side effects of lupus.