In light of the release of Joanne, the album Lady Gaga called her most personal, autobiographical work yet, the singer has been extremely open with fans about her life as of late—and she's not done expressing herself yet. Gaga most recently shared that she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder in a video segment shown on The Today Show on Monday.
Today partnered with Gaga and her Born This Way Foundation, an organization committed to creating a kinder world and supporting youth, as part of the morning show's Share Kindness campaign to inspire people to give back. In this morning's segment, Gaga visited the Ali Forney Center, a homeless shelter for LGBTQ youth in New York City's Harlem neighborhood, with plenty of holiday gifts, wisdom, and love to spread around.
"I also believe that kindness is the cure to violence and hatred around the world," Gaga said of the initiative.
In the emotional video, Gaga is seen hugging the teens living at the center and speaking with them about their experiences. She says that the trauma she's experienced in her own life has helped her relate to others who have experienced trauma—Gaga has previously shared that she was raped when she was 19 years old.
At one point in her visit, Gaga leads a meditation session with the group, and she explains, "I don’t have the same kind of issues that you have, but I have a mental illness and I struggle with that every day so I need my mantra to help keep me relaxed."
She continued in an interview, "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."
Before treating the group to a performance of her hit "Million Reasons," Gaga reminded them—and us all—that they are brave and courageous.
"One way to help people that have trauma is to inject them with as many positive thoughts as possible," she said. "What's really important to remind kids that are suffering from traumatic experience or abandonment is to remind them that they're not alone and that they're love."
Grab your tissues, and watch the full segment in the video, below:
