Lady Gaga has opened up about her struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for the first time in the hope of helping others.
In collaboration with the TODAY Show in the US, the Til It Happens To You singer took time out to stop by a New York homeless shelter for LGBT youth to share her own experience as a survivor of trauma, distribute plenty of gifts, and play a little music.
When she showed up for the #sharekindess campaign, the crowd burst into excited screams, but things took a serious tone, say reports.
“I told the kids today, ‘I suffer from PTSD.’ I’ve never told anyone that before,” she said during the visit to Harlem’s Ali Forney Centre.
“But the kindness that’s shown to me by doctors as well as my family, and my friends, it’s really saved my life.”
“These children are not just homeless or in need. Many of them are trauma survivors,” she noted.
“They’ve been rejected in some type of way.” It’s something that Gaga empathises with.
Gaga led the youth in a guided meditation, which she said helps keep her relaxed in the face of her struggle with mental illness.
To the LGBTQ’s @AliForneyCenter thank you for sharing your stories, trauma & pain with me & the world today. Your kindness is contagious. ❤️
— xoxo, Joanne (@ladygaga) December 5, 2016
She also tweeted about the experience, noting that “secrets keep you sick with shame.”
It’s a message she’s been spreading for years: her 2011 hit Born This Way has become an enduring anthem for the LGBT community, and the Born This Way Foundation attempts to help youth overcome bullying.
“I also believe that kindness is the cure to violence and hatred around the world,” said Gaga, who was a victim of sexual assault at 19 by a man 20 years older.
While the revelation marked the first time the artist has spoken about her PTSD, Gaga has been vocal about her struggle with other mental illnesses.
“I’ve suffered through depression and anxiety my entire life, I still suffer with it every single day,” she said in an October 2015 feature for Billboard.
