Selena Gomez Hosts Mental Health Forum at White House with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden & Surgeon General Vivek Murthy

Selena Gomez is bring the important topic of mental health to the White House

The 29-year-old Mexican American singer, actress, and producer hosted a forum alongside Dr. Jill Biden and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy for the inaugural Mental Health Youth Action Forum, a panel to discuss the mental health issues young people are struggling with, and suggested possible ways mental health can be improved.

Selena GomezGomez, Biden and Murthy met with 30 mental health leaders and additionally spoke about how far speaking about mental health has come since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.

“Over the last decade, an alarming number of young people have struggled with mental health challenges, and the pandemic has made it so much worse: the isolation, the anxiety and, yes, the grief. They are wounds that sometimes go unseen, too often cloaked in secrecy and shame,” Biden addressed the crowd, which gathered in the White House’s East Room. “But young people don’t have to face these challenges alone. No one does. The darkness inside of us can feel heavy at times, but we can share the weight of it together. And we can help bring those feelings and experiences to the light.”

Gomez then shared anecdotes of her own regarding her mental health.

“I heard a phrase recently that I really like: the mentionable becomes manageable. I felt like once I found out what was going on mentally I found there was more freedom for me to be ok with what I had because I was learning about it, and talking about your own journey helps,” she said. “It is a topic that should be talked about freely, without shame.”

“I hope that by using my platform to share my own story and by working with incredible people,” Gomez continued. “I can help others feel less alone and find the help that they need, which is honestly all I want…We need as much help as we can possibly get developing resources and services and increasing access to those services for young people.”

Gomez teaming up with Biden comes in light of Thursday’s Mental Health Action Day and the April launch of Gomez’s Wondermind, her mental health fitness company.

Selena Gomez Launches “Your Words Matter” Campaign in Partnership with Rare Beauty & Mental Health First Aid

Selena Gomez has a few words to share…

This Mental Health Awareness Month, the 29-year-old Mexican American actress/singer has launched a new campaign about the importance of language.

Selena GomezGomez, who has been an outspoken mental health advocate, took to social media on Sunday to announce the launch of a new campaign called Your Words Matter.

The initiative — which aims to “educate on the power of your words when talking about mental health,” according to a statement — is a partnership between Gomez’s makeup company Rare Beauty and Mental Health First Aid.

“Your words matter,” Gomez wrote to her 317 million followers on Instagram. “Join @RareBeauty for Mental Health Awareness Month as we share resources and bring awareness to the power of your words all month long on IG and RareBeauty.com/RareImpact. Together we can break the stigma.”

The Only Murders in the Building star’s post also included a screenshot of a powerful message she wrote on the Notes app of her phone.

“Words can be a barrier to people seeking help and increase the stigma associated with mental health. Many of these words have been normalized and accepted for far too long, but it’s time we bring awareness to the words we use… because they matter,” she wrote.

“Even in my own TikTok video, I now realize that my words matter and can have a powerful impact. Just like all of you, I’m learning every day. We may slip up, and that’s okay, what’s important is that we try to do better and give ourselves compassion.”

Rare Beauty offered some tips on Instagram about changing language to focus on the person and not their mental health. For example, instead of referring to someone as “a bipolar person,” one could say, “a person who has bipolar disorder.” Or changing “someone who committed suicide” to “a person who died by suicide.”

For last year’s Mental Health Awareness Month, Gomez and Rare Beauty launched the Mental Health 101 campaign, which is “dedicated to supporting mental health education and encouraging financial support for more mental health services in educational services,” she wrote on Instagram.

Gomez, who’s recently turned her sights on founding a mental wellness website called Wondermind, first opened up about her bipolar diagnosis on her Bright Minded Instagram Live series in April 2020.

In September 2019, she won the 2019 McClean Award for her mental health advocacy and detailed her struggles with anxiety and depression during her acceptance speech.