Selena Gomez is opening up about her battles with mental health. As reported by Today, Gomez admitted that anxiety and depression took their toll on her. At the time of her speech on mental health, Gomez was accepting the McLean Award from McLean Hospital in Massachusetts honoring her for her work in advancing the public's understanding of mental health. "It felt as though all of my pain, anxiety and fear washed over me all at once, and it was one of the scariest times of my life," Gomez stated. She received mental health treatment last October for anxiety and depression a year after she had a kidney transplant as a result of her battle with lupus.
"Although this does not mean that it has all gone away, I can say that after a year of a lot of intense work I am happier, I am healthier and I'm in control of my emotions and thoughts more than I have ever been," Gomez continued. "I have feared being misunderstood and judged. I know that I have been given experiences and people and opportunities that have made my life exceptionally beautiful and sweet — and yet I struggle with my own thoughts and feelings at times. But this doesn’t make me faulty. This does not make me weak. This does not make me less than. This makes me human. We need help, and we need each other."