Lady Gaga recounted her experiences with PTSD and mental illness in conversation with Oprah Winfrey this weekend.
The talk took place on Saturday in Fort Lauderdale, FL as part of Oprah’s 2020 Vision: Your Life In Focus tour. It marked the start of Winfrey’s first national arena tour in five years.
In their hour-long conversation, Gaga and Winfrey discussed the singer’s struggles with fibromyalgia and post-traumatic stress disorder. Gaga opened up about being raped at age 19 by someone she knew, which eventually led to PTSD when she didn’t have the opportunity to process her trauma with a doctor or therapist afterward.
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“I all of a sudden became a star and was travelling the world going from hotel room to garage to limo to stage, and I never dealt with it,” Gaga told Winfrey. “Then all of a sudden I started to experience this incredible intense pain throughout my entire body that mimicked the illness I felt after I was raped.”
Drawing from her personal experience, Gaga also advocated for mental health classes and education in schools during the talk. Along with helping her manage her PTSD, Gaga found that mental health therapy helped treat her fibromyalgia, which can leave her in intense head-to-toe pain.
“Mental health is a medical condition,” she said. “It should be treated as a medical condition. It should not be ignored.”
After the talk, Winfrey spoke with Gaga backstage and thanked her.
“You were so amazing,” Winfrey said, tearing up. “You were so vulnerable, you were so truthful, you were so real...Nobody does that, and you just did it.”
Fort Lauderdale, thank you for your warmth and fantastic generosity. And Lady Gaga: Your willingness to ‘go there’ with your vulnerability opened all our hearts today. My full conversation with Gaga will air this Wednesday 1/8 right here on my Facebook page. #Oprahs2020VisionTour #BigBiteOfBravery
Posted by Oprah Winfrey on Sunday, January 5, 2020
During their conversation, Winfrey also asked Gaga about any future projects after the wild success of A Star Is Born. Gaga said that a new album is in the works, but she’s going to take her time with it. She intends to check in with herself and her well-being throughout the process.
“We’re having a self-care conversation, but I’m still going to make music, don’t worry,” she said.
Interviews from Winfrey’s tour will be posted on both her Facebook channel and the WW Now Facebook channel as part of the Weight Watchers Reimagined Wednesday Wellness Series. Clips will also be posted as highlights on the WW Now Instagram page.
If you have experienced sexual violence and are in need of crisis support, please visit Shelter Space.