Selena Gomez Battling Lupus, Depression And Anxiety: Is This Goodbye Hollywood?

Selena Gomez revealed in an interview that she will be taking time off screen to deal with a serious health condition - lupus.

The 24-year-old American actress and singer is forced to leave the big screen to battle depression, anxiety, and panic attacks that are possible side effects of lupus, as reported in The Guardian.

She had an interview with USA Today and said, "As many of you know, around a year ago I revealed that I have lupus, an illness that can affect people in different ways.  I've discovered that anxiety, panic attacks and depression can be side effects of lupus, which can present their own challenges."

She is currently traveling around the world as part of her Revival tour. She released the statement sadly saying that she has to rest and focus on treating her disease. It was almost a year ago when she publicly revealed that she had been diagnosed with the autoimmune disease.

Sadly, lupus can affect any part of the body with more than five million people all over the world suffering from it, as per reports of the Lupus Foundation of America. It mainly targets the immune system, leaving the person unable to fight off infections and viruses.

However, she did not clarify whether her needed-leave would be urgent or when would she start her break. People are also uncertain if she will still finish her tour or postpone it till she is better. Selena is supposed to visit many countries and states in the US and Europe throughout the end of 2016.

During her concert, this is what she said: "I want to be proactive and focus on maintaining my health and happiness and have decided that the best way forward is to take some time off." She continued, "Thank you to all my fans for your support. You know how special you are to me, but I need to face this head on to ensure I am doing everything possible to be my best. I know I am not alone and by sharing this, I hope others will be encouraged to address their own issues."

She shared with Billboard in October 2015 that she has been undergoing chemotherapy to treat her lupus. Gomez even mentioned she had to literally lock herself away from people until she felt comfortable and happy to go out again. The Canadian singer was actually not sent to rehab in 2014 but had to secretly deal with her disease.

Lupus has various symptoms like headache, severe fatigue, swelling of hands or ankles, rash across the cheeks and nose, ulcer in mouth and nose, anemia, sensitivity to light, painful or swollen joints anywhere in the body and hair loss.