Selena Gomez Talks 'Dangerous' Time When She Found It 'Difficult To Be Me'

While chatting with InStyle, Selena Gomez spoke candidly about a "really dangerous" time when she allowed social media to completely take over her life. Her obsession with Instagram ultimately had a negative impact on her mental health and overall wellbeing.

"I became aware that my little world is complicated, but the picture is much bigger than the stuff I deal with," she explained to the outlet. "I have problems with depression and anxiety, and I found it difficult for me to be me."

“At one point Instagram became my whole world, and it was really dangerous,” the Hotel Transylvania star continued. “In my early 20s, I felt like I wasn’t pretty enough. There was a whole period in my life when I thought I needed makeup and never wanted to be seen without it.”

“The older I got, the more I evolved and realized that I needed to take control of what I was feeling. I wanted to be able to look in the mirror and feel confident to be who I am,” she shared. “Taking a break from social media was the best decision that I’ve ever made for my mental health.”

For now, she has a system that allows her to remain on Instagram without obsessing over it. One aspect of that system is that she does not control her account's passwords and access. Stepping away from this social media platform allowed her to realize the “unnecessary hate and comparisons went away once I put my phone down."

“I’ll have moments where that weird feeling will come back, but now I have a much better relationship with myself," she added. “I have to make sure that I’m OK, you know? Because if I’m not OK, I can’t be OK for other people.”

Though Gomez has taken a step back from Instagram to better protect her mental health, she's found a healthy, happy niche on TikTok. Fans of Gomez's content will have more to look forward to this year, as well. "The algorithm I've created is really funny — and obviously lame," she told People in a separate interview. "What I love is that you have to go out of your way to see the comments. I can get away with stuff on TikTok for some reason, so I'm going to keep going."