American actress and singer, Selena Gomez has been admitted in a mental health facility after being hospitalized twice in the past fortnight, according to US reports.
The 26-year-old was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles last month after it emerged she had a low white blood cell count — a potential side effect for kidney transplant patients, TMZ reports.
Gomez, who underwent a kidney transplant last year, was then brought to hospital a second time last week as her cell count didn’t go up and “freaked out” when she couldn’t leave.
Sources told TMZ the singer had “a meltdown” while trying to rip IVs out of her arms, with the incident described as an “emotional breakdown”.
Another source told People magazine Gomez had a “panic attack” during the second hospital visit and it prompted her to seek treatment.
“She has had a tough few weeks and the panic attack in the hospital was the tipping point,” they told the magazine.
“She realised she needed to seek additional help for her ongoing emotional issues. She’s surrounded by close family and has a lot of support. She’s doing better now and is seeking treatment on the East Coast.”
TMZ claims Gomez is receiving dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) and has received that same type of medical care in the past.
According to Sane Australia, DBT is used to treat a range of mental health issues such as borderline personality disorder, self-harm, suicidal behaviour, depression, eating disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Last month Gomez, who is one of the most followed people on Instagram, told her 144 million followers she would be taking a break from social media.
“Just remember — negative comments can hurt anybody’s feelings,” she wrote in her last Instagram post.
Gomez, who had copped negative comments over her ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber’s engagement to model Hailey Baldwin, also told fans in an Instagram Live question and answer she had struggled with depression for the past five years.
Bieber and Gomez had been in an on-off relationship since 2010 and briefly reunited late last year, however, split for good in March.
In July the Sorry singer popped the question to Baldwin after dating for a few weeks, with the couple rumoured to have already secretly tied the knot.
Gomez has suffered from a number of health issues over the years, undergoing a stint in rehab in 2014.
The singer told US Vogue in 2017 she sought help because she was exhausted from touring and suffering from anxiety and depression.
“Tours are a really lonely place for me,” Gomez said. “My self-esteem was shot. I was depressed, anxious. I started to have panic attacks right before getting onstage, or right after leaving the stage.”
In 2016 Gomez revealed she had been secretly battling auto-immune disease lupus for years and in September last year told fans she had gotten a kidney transplant from her best friend Francia Raisa.
