Selena Gomez has opened up about her battles with anxiety and depression, admitting that she doesn’t believe she’ll ever “overcome” them and that she’ll likely have to keep them at bay “for the rest of my life”.

The 25 year old actress and singer has had a pretty eventful last 12 months since returning to the public eye. She re-emerged at the start of 2017 following a social media blackout, disappeared again for what turned out to be a life-saving kidney transplant, split up with her boyfriend The Weeknd, only to get back together again with her ex, Justin Bieber.

The former Disney star sat down with Harper’s Bazaar  to shoot the cover for the magazine’s March issue recently, and told the interviewer about her current priorities.

Selena GomezSelena Gomez has opened up about her mental health battles once again

“I’ve had a lot of issues with depression and anxiety, and I’ve been very vocal about it, but it’s not something I feel I’ll ever overcome,” Gomez revealed.

“There won’t be a day when I’m like, ‘Here I am in a pretty dress — I won!’ I think it’s a battle I’m gonna have to face for the rest of my life, and I’m okay with that because I know that I’m choosing myself over anything else. I’m starting my year off with that thought. I want to make sure I’m healthy. If that’s good, everything else will fall into place.”

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Gomez has been one of the most high-profile advocates for mental health, and talking about it, and since 2014 has sought treatment on least four occasions for related “emotional issues” originating from her lupus diagnosis.

On the basis that she’s prioritising herself in 2018, she’s prepared to keep fans waiting for her third album, although she has been working on it slowly but steadily for a long time and released three well-received singles last year.

“I don’t really set goals ’cause I don’t want to be disappointed if I don’t reach them, but I do want to work on my music too,” Gomez continued. “My next album has been forever in the making. When people ask me why, I’m honest about it: it’s because I haven’t been ready. I mean, point-blank, I don’t feel confident enough in where my music is yet. If that takes ten years, then it takes ten years. I don’t care. Right now I just want to be super intentional with all of the things I’m doing.”

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