Giving back. Lady Gaga revealed that she struggles with a “mental illness every day” during a Today show segment that aired on Monday, December 5.
“I suffer from PTSD,” the Grammy-winning singer, 30, told teens while recently visiting New York City’s Ali Forney Center, which helps homeless LGBT youth. “I’ve never told anyone that before, so here we are.”
Gaga shared her experiences as part of NBC Universal’s #ShareKindness campaign. “The kindness that’s shown to me by doctors as well as my family and my friends, it’s really saved my life,” she said. “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.”
The “Million Reasons” singer, who says that she often meditates to cope with her PTSD, has never publicly spoken about living with post traumatic stress disorder before. She later took photos with the group and performed a cover of Nat King Cole’s 1954 hit “Smile.”
“I love to give things to people that have nothing or less than me. These children are not just homeless or in need,” she told Today. “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.”
The American Horror Story actress often opens up about her personal life to fans. In December 2014, she revealed during an interview with Howard Stern that she was raped at age 19. “I’m here because, when I look out onto the sea of beautiful young faces that I get to sing and dance for, I see a lot of people who have secrets that are killing them,” she said at the time. “We don’t want you to keep your pain inside and let it rot like an old apple on your counter, you know? It’s like, just get rid of all that trash. Let’s get rid of it together.”