Selena Gomez is using her celebrity platform to promote more than her music and movies. On Friday (April 30), Gomez reached out to her 223 million Instagram followers to tell them about her new endeavor, Mental Health 101, a safe space for communities to learn about mental illness and help reduce the stigma associated with mental health.
“This campaign is so close to my heart because of my own struggles with mental health,” Gomez writes. “I know firsthand how scary and lonely it can feel to face anxiety and depression by yourself at a young age. If I had learned about my mental health earlier on–been taught about my condition in school the way I was taught about other subjects–my journey could have looked very different.”
On the website for the new initiative, Gomez provides articles about mental health and resources where people can go to get support if they need it. Through the Rare Impact Fund, Gomez is committing one percent of all sales of her Rare Beauty products to be donated to mental health service organizations.
“The world needs to know that mental health matters,” Gomez writes. “It’s just as important as your physical health, and I wish we could all acknowledge that, not just in words but through our actions.”
During her career, Gomez has been open about her mental health issues. In April 2020, she revealed for the first time that she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
“After years of going through a lot of different things, I realized that I was bipolar,” Gomez said last year. “So, when I go to know more information, it actually helps me. It doesn’t scare me once I know it. And I think people get scared of that.”