Selena Gomez Is Doing This Regularly To Help Tame Her Bipolar Disorder
Selena Gomez has admitted to having bipolar disorder and has revealed that she uses Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) to manage her anxiety and depression. The singer-actress also admitted to having an “addiction” to social media sites like Instagram. She said, “I felt I wasn’t present. I was always looking at my phone.” The therapy involves encouraging individuals to take care of themselves and live in the moment. The therapy also teaches clients how to handle their emotions and turn them into positive feelings.
Many types of therapy can help people with bipolar disorder, but Selena has admitted that this one works for her because she doesn’t feel like she’s missing out on anything. After all, she’s focusing on herself rather than her phone or something else not important enough to make her happy in the moment. That’s one of the biggest challenges for people with bipolar disorder. They feel like they’re missing out on something, and that’s how they end up engaging in behaviors that lead to feeling sad and depressed.
DBT teaches clients to “be there” in a way that makes them happy. That’s something that Selena will have to practice repeatedly with the help of her therapist. For example, she might learn to let go of the past, focus on enjoying the here-and-now and make herself more comfortable. She can do all this with the help of a therapist.
Selena is working with a form of DBT therapy called exposure and response prevention (ERP). This part of therapy aims to reduce her intense feelings or urges by exposing herself to situations that make her uncomfortable. The exposure is designed to teach Selena how to tolerate and cope with uncomfortable situations.
One form of ERP involves teaching her to tolerate the feeling of anxiety without acting on it. DBT therapists often ask their clients to choose extreme situations that trigger an emotional response. For example, Selena might have to stand in front of a large crowd and listen to someone say something about her that she’s sensitive about.
Other DBT exercises focus on “unlearning” behaviors that are causing intense emotional distress. Selena might learn to accept when she is anxious or angry without changing it. In time, she may be able to tolerate even more intense feelings by gradually confronting them and learning how much they bother her.