( CNN ) According to Selena Gomez , life in the spotlight is n't all it 's cracked up to be . The 22-year-old actress and singer appears topless and in a pair of short shorts on the cover of the spring issue of V magazine , proving that she 's moved on from her days as a Disney child star . The Huffington Post reports that Gomez discusses in the accompanying interview the anxiety that fame has brought into her life . Things got really bad , she said , with all the tabloid scrutiny over her relationship with pop star Justin Bieber . `` There were a few months where I was a little depressed , where I would n't leave ( the house ) as much , '' Gomez said . `` I think I drove myself crazy for a little bit . It was just easier to say , 'Hey , do you mind running to the grocery store and picking some stuff up , I do n't want to get photographed . ' `` The `` Spring Breakers '' star said she 's grown since being involved with Bieber . The pair were involved in an on-again , off-again relationship from 2011 to 2014 . `` I was 18 years old , and it was my first love , '' she said . `` The older I get , I 'm guarding certain things more . '' Gomez said she 's also learning to cope better with the fame . `` I 'm finally getting a little bit more comfortable , '' she said . `` It 's a process . ''
Gomez appears in V magazine 's spring issue . She says tabloid attention gave her anxiety . The actress and singer calls Justin Bieber her `` first love ''