“I am grateful to be alive.”
This sentiment from television star, producer and entrepreneur Selena Gomez was shared in the newest trailer for her documentary, “Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me.” The documentary will stream on Apple TV+ starting Nov. 4, bringing her personal battles with both mental and physical health to screens throughout the world.
The trailer for it, released on World Mental Health Day, offers a behind-the-scenes look at the last 6 years of her life – in particular, her journey toward better health and her use of her platform to make a difference. “I don’t wanna be, like, super famous,” said Gomez in one emotional moment from the trailer. “But I do know that if I’m here, I have to use that for good.”
The documentary will cover what’s occured in her life since taking a step back from the spotlight in 2014, following a lupus diagnosis. And her journey has not been easy. In addition to complications with her physical health, she also grappled with her mental well-being, and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2020.
But amid all of that, she continued work as an ambassador for UNICEF, and slowly made her way back to acting and music. Moreover, Gomez’s dedication to mental health awareness has made her a leading celebrity advocate, even having been awarded the McLean Award for Mental Health Advocacy in 2019.
She lives this out through several ventures. Earlier this year, Gomez partnered with her mother, Mandy Teefey, and The Newsette founder Daniella Pierson to create Wondermind, an online platform promoting mental fitness. All three co-founders have struggled with their own mental health battles, inspiring them to create the media site as a sort of mental health blog.
Gomez also promotes mental health awareness through her makeup line, Rare Beauty. And, she created the Rare Impact, a platform with blogs and guides similar to Wondermind but with a fundraising arm called the Rare Impact Fund.
The documentary is a big step for Gomez’s work with mental health advocacy; sharing 6 years of personal struggles to health could inspire many others to seek the help and resources they need.
Some even say it already has. “I think that you are saving lives,” said a fan to Gomez in the trailer. “I know you’re saving lives, so thank you.”
