Selena Gomez is sharing the tools she uses for help during physical and mental health flare-ups.
The actress — who has been diagnosed with lupus and bipolar disorder — revealed her go-to remedies in a new interview with Vanity Fair, admitting that her mind “was not right and chemically imbalanced” when she suffered a public breakdown in 2018.
Gomez told the outlet that she’s now been “properly medicated” and also uses temperature, which can include cold water and space heaters, as a “healing mechanism.”
Depending on her needs, the pop star finds varying temperatures “soothing at different times.”
Temperature can often play a key role in boosting one’s mood and has been proven to have health benefits. According to a study done by researchers at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine in 2007, cold showers a couple of times a week, for example, can reduce depression symptoms.
Aside from external tools, Gomez also told Variety she uses various mental exercises when she isn’t feeling her best.
“I remind myself that I’m OK. I ground myself for a moment,” the singer, 32, explained. “’Where am I? I’m sitting down in the office. Everybody that I love is out there. There’s food. I can get something to eat. I can take a nap here before I leave.’ I put myself into the present.”
Gomez was diagnosed with lupus in 2013 but chose not to reveal it to the public until 2015. She received a bipolar disorder diagnosis in 2018.
In 2022, the “Only Murders in the Building” star gave fans an inside look at her ongoing health struggles in an intimate documentary titled “My Mind & Me.” 
Gomez admitted in the new Variety interview that she got cold feet a few weeks before it was set to be released, causing a downward spiral.
“I asked my team if it was possible to pull out. Lawyers got involved, but we never took it to Apple because everything was locked,” she recalled. “When the movie came out, I didn’t look at anything for a few days, and then I was scared to leave the house.”
However, Gomez feels she’s become a lot stronger mentally in recent years, telling the outlet, “That is definitely nowhere close to where I am now.”
“It was really difficult. People were calling me a victim,” she confessed. “That frustrates me, because being vulnerable is actually one of the strongest things you can do.”
The Rare Beauty founder added that she’s “grateful” every day and doesn’t see herself as a victim — despite the backlash she’s received from some critics online.
“I have my days like everyone else, but I’m no victim. I just survived a lot,” she shared. “There isn’t a part of me that wants anyone to feel sorry for me.”
Elsewhere in the new Variety profile, published Monday, the newly minted billionaire revealed that she is unable to carry her own children.
“I have a lot of medical issues that would put my life and the baby’s in jeopardy,” she explained. “That was something I had to grieve for a while.”
However, Gomez is still hopeful about having adoption and surrogacy as potential options in the future.
