Lady Gaga has pulled back the curtain on her personal life quite a bit since the release of what she calls her most personal album ever, Joanne. Last week, she talked about the end of her relationship with Taylor Kinney and this week, she revealed that she suffers from PTSD. A segment on Monday’s Today Show featured Gaga visiting New York’s Ali Fourney Center, which is dedicated to helping homeless LBGT youth. The 30-year-old singer was representing the #ShareKindness campaign and expressed the spirit of the holiday season. She explained why the visit meant a lot to her:
Kindness, to me, is an action of love or a showing of love to someone else. I also believe that kindness is the cure to violence and hatred around the world. I like to share kindness in a lot of different ways. I love to give things to people that have nothing or less than me. These children are not just homeless or in need. Many of them are trauma survivors; they’ve been rejected in some kind of way. My own trauma in my life has helped me to understand the trauma of others.
Not only did she bring gifts including warm clothes and makeup to the kids, she also told them that she suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome.
During a meditation session, Gaga said, “I have a mental illness and I struggle with that mental illness every day.” She added in a later interview with the show, “I told the kids today that I suffer from a mental illness. I suffer from PTSD. I’ve never told anyone that before, so here we are. But the kindness that’s been shown to me by doctors — as well as my family and my friends—it’s really saved my life.”
She tweeted the video of the segment (now taken down, but you can see it on the TODAY website) and told her Little Monsters, “Today I shared one my deepest secrets w/ the world. Secrets keep you sick w/ shame ❤️ #ShareKindness.”
It’s pretty awesome that Gaga shared this with those kids and took some time out of her hectic schedule to do it. Of course, she’s been back at it, this time in England, turning heads in a stunning black gown by designer Brandon Maxwell at the British Fashion Awards on Monday night.
Tonight I wore a dress by designer @Brandonmaxwell pic.twitter.com/iEq7Artd03
— xoxo, Joanne (@ladygaga) December 5, 2016
The jetsetting Gaga also recorded a performance for last night’s Victoria Secret Fashion Show in Paris last week (in a million dollar hat) and is most likely starting to get her act together for the Super Bowl halftime show. Say what you want about Gaga, she does have a good heart and I love her for that. The whole TODAY segment is posted below. If you’re having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit (like me), take a few minutes and watch it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s something in me eye….
Photo credit: WENN.com
She’s also recently made a statement about chronic pain – which I thought was really cool of her. She shared some tips that she’s picked up over the last few years on how to deal with it. Chronic pain can go hand in hand with PTSD and things like that, so it makes sense.
I always appreciate when celebrities speak out in a way that would help others. I think it’s brave – how many of us openly speak about our struggles to people in our lives, let alone on such a large scale like Gaga. But it also gives the people struggling a real person who is going through the same things they’re going through. It’s nice to know you’re not alone.
Loved the segment. If there’s one thing you can say about her it’s that she loves her fans. She’s never said otherwise. The fact that she specifically went to this center…full of kids that are so vulnerable and alone makes me happy
I’m kinda surprised but not by her PTSD just because of the things she’s talked about before like being assaulted…all of that could contribute.
I admire her for speaking out.
I was diagnosed with PTSD after a bad car accident. EMDR therapy saved my life and sanity. I genuinely feel for Lady Gaga.
I am so happy you are better. Emdr saved my life too.
I’m not a Gaga fan, but I appreciate her speaking out. I hope she’s alright.
Did she mention why or how she has PTSD..and is this temporary and curable. We usually here it associated with soldiers or some horrific incident,so I am just curious,
It was explained in the video that it was a reaction to being raped at 19.
As far as I know PTSD can’t be “cured” it can only be managed to a degree where it might not affect your life too much anymore.
Oh sorry was not able to open the video,i was also asking apparently hypnotism helps.
Most likely to do with her sexual assault. And no mental illness is curable just managed to the point where it’s below clinical threshold through therapy and in some cases medication.
Anyone can be possibly diagnosed PTSD if they experience any type of trauma not just soldiers.
I developed PTSD after a traumatic car accident. It can occur after any traumatising incident, not just war.
PTSD, like most mental illness, is not curable but treatment and management is based on diagnosis and can be very effective. The new guidelines for diagnosing PTSD is split it into two categories. The first is acute. These are things like being a victim of robbery, car accidents, a singular incident of sexual assault and other types of violence, etc. This category is defined by one single incident that is life threatening and/or so emotionally scarring it is considered traumatize. In the acute category PTSD is labeled as mild, moderate, or severe which identifies how pervasive the PTSD symptoms are to a person. The more pervasive, the more severe, the more likely a person will not function well in society. The other category, also with the mild, moderate, and severe descriptors, is chronic. This category is identifiable by incidenctes that are recurring. For example, law enforcement officers, military, and victims of repeated sexual abuse and violence would typically fall in this category. You often find comorbidity with PTSD as well with symptoms of anxiety, depression, and/or alcohol/drug dependence. Most often it’s the comorbid diagnoses that draw the most attention unless you show some of the classic symptoms of PTSD like flashbacks. The new guidelines were just updated because the old ones didn’t account for many factors that are common and consistent with diagnosis. Proper diagnosis changes how an individual is treated with therapy and possibly medication. The nature of treatment can be specific to the diagnosis thereby making it more or less effective.
I’m glad that both she and Madonna speak openly about their sexual assaults and their struggles thereafter. I think Gaga is an underrated talent and her intentions here are pure but I would never describe her as having a good heart. Seriously, did we forget how she treats her staff?
How does she treat her staff? My coworker’s nephew has worked with her for her entire career and she’s so loyal to the people on her team from what I’ve heard?
i like her and think she is talented. i wish she would stop touching her face. she is so young and it looks painful when she moves it.
I watched that segment and it made me so sad and angry seeing those homeless LGBTQ young people.Also learning that they are 8 times more likely to be homeless because they have run away or been kicked out by their family because of their sexuality.Some of them talked about sleeping on the subway,in parks,in McDonald’s,etc.
Good for her, seriously. And on a superficial note, that Maxwell gown is fantastic.
A lot of times I think she is being phony, but this isn’t one of them. Good for her for speaking up, and hopefully doing so will help others.
Is PTSD mental illness? I thought it was just a response to trauma…by definition…
I don’t know if it is in the DSM, but it’s usually treated with medication and therapy like other mental illnesses and it’s no joke. My husband has it and it’s been 6 years of doctors and pills and treatments that don’t work. Insomnia, nightmares, inability to be in crowds (his is military related). He just finally found a doctor and a medicine that is helping him see improvement, but we have a way to go.
I’m glad Gaga is speaking out, especially because people think of PTSD as a military thing. The public should know it can come from lots of things including accidents, assault and physical and/or emotional/verbal abuse. Good for her.
Just struck me as odd to refer to PTSD as mental illness. Seems to me PTSD is a completely logical reaction to trauma (you’ve experienced something severe, and it would be illogical for you to walk away from that experience with zero negative impacts on your psyche. There is very much a cause and an effect). Whereas mental illness isn’t a reaction to your environment…it’s inheritable, it can manifest spontaneously…seems totally different.
Have you looked into EMDR therapy for your husband?
@Greenweenie: PTSD seems to be more of a pathological reaction to trauma. I guess it’s a difference of degree: trauma affects everyone to some extent, but when someone has PTSD, the trauma has affected them to the extent that daily functioning is impaired for some period of time.
You can have genetic risk factors for mental illness and never manifest symptoms. So it would be inaccurate to say that (for ex) depression is inherited. The risk is inherited, but not the disease. There is also a massive environmental component.
There’s always cause and effect. Would you say cancer just manifests spontaneously, because someone was walking around apparently healthy, and now ‘suddenly’ they have cancer? Even though they had no symptoms until that moment? Of course not. Same thing for mental illness: there were underlying neurobiological processes that reached some critical threshold which caused symptoms. Like, there is mechanism here, not just things randomly happening out of nowhere. (Sorry, I hope this doesn’t sound aggressive! It’s not meant to be.) It only appears ‘spontaneous’ from where we are standing.
@Mae, interesting, I knew someone on here would know more. I have had experiences with PTSD and schizoaffective disorder and would never think to compare them.
It is in the DSM and has been for many years. In my previous post you can read about the current updates to the guidelines for diagnosis.
There are mental health specialists who are trained in trauma therapy. The most common method is DBT. The EMDR is a treatment but it’s one to help desensitize and the counselor needs to have certification to practice in addition to their license for counseling. I would recommend researching that and speaking with his psychiatrist and counselor about doing DBT and EMDR together.
A brain injury that has biological and psychological as well as physiological effects on the brain.
It isn’t a mental illness that you are born with or that comes from within. I hope this makes sense. Im not a scientist or doctor. It pains me to see people that think it only happens to veterans. I appreciate when I see people who are eager to learn about it like you guys seem to be.
@BendyWindy I hope your husband finds relief and that you both do well in recovery. I know its hard on the loved ones as well. Someone upthread mentioned EMDR. All I will say is that if you can find a reputable EMDR therapist or provider in your area that could potentially help, it is well worth it. I wish you the very best 🙂
PTSD is in the diagnostic manual for mental health disorders so yes, it is considered a memtal health disorder. The cause of PTSD, though important, is not what makes it an illness. The symptoms and behaviors a person who has suffered trauma is what makes it a mental illness. By nature we have a response system that kicks in when we are exposed to events that can be traumatic. This system is called the Central Nervous System (CNS). It is responsible for “fight or flight”. It is necessary we have this response for survival. Someone with PTSD, due to their traumatic experience(s) has fight or flight responses even when no event is triggering it, making it dysfunctional. Since it’s not medical, medical treatments are limited to medications for mental health illnesses.
Why is it that she has PTSD and make the dam news, while soldiers who have fought wars for America suffer from extreme PTSD and don’t even make the news???
and why is that that civilians who suffer from ptsd because of these soldiers’ actions don’t make news ?
Because they ain’t famous and have little followers like us reading up on their lives. duh!
I have a mental illness too. I have borderline and suffered from psychosis for a while. Now it’s not as tough as it was, I take medication and I don’t hear voices anymore. It takes a lot to tell people. Most of my family and friends don’t know.