Selena Gomez has been candidly open about her health in recent years. In 2016 the singer decided to take time off from work after experiencing panic attacks and depression due to lupus. She then took to the stage at the American Music Awards to speak honestly about mental health.

And at the end of last year the singer revealed she’d undergone a kidney transplant, thanks to the help and support of her best friend.

Now, in a new interview with Harper’s Baazar Gomez has spoken about the importance of looking after number one in every way possible - and revealed that she recently completed a two-week program for depression and anxiety.

Speaking with 13 Reasons Why actress Katherine Langford, Gomez said 2018 is going to be a much better year for her:

“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.

“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 going to have to face for the rest of my life, and I’m OK 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.”

Gomez went on to admit that, even though she’s one of the most successful stars on Instagram, she has a complicated relationship with the social media platform.

“I have a complex relationship with Instagram, to say the least. It has given me a voice amid all the noise of people trying to narrate my life for me and allows me to say, ‘Hey, I’m going to post this, and this is going to take care of the 1,200 stories that people think are interesting but actually aren’t, and aren’t even true,’” the singer says. “So it empowers me in that way because it’s my words and my voice and my truth.”

A study carried out by the Royal Society for Public Health in 2017 detailed the negative impact the platform can have on young people’s mental health. By surveying 1,500 people aged 14-24, the poll analysed five platforms – Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Snapchat – on health and wellbeing issues, including depression, body image and anxiety.

Although Instagram was shown to have a positive effect on self-expression and self-identity, Snapchat and Instagram were found to have the most detrimental impact on mental health overall. Something which Gomez is all too aware of as she rightly acknowledged that the platform can be a damaging influence on young people like her fans.

“It’s an incredible platform, but in a lot of ways it’s given young people, myself included, a false representation of what’s important. So, yeah, it’s a complex relationship. Probably one of my most difficult relationships.”

Images: Rex Features / Instagram