Lady Gaga Opens Up About Struggling With PTSD Since Being Raped As a Teenager

Lady Gaga. Photo: Getty Images

Lady Gaga has been open about the trauma of being raped as a teenager, but during a Monday segment on the Today show, she revealed for the first time that she’s suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) since the attack occurred.

The Joanne singer appeared on the show’s Share Kindness series, during which she visited the Ali Forney Center for LGBT homeless youth in Harlem. Lady Gaga stopped by with gifts from Gap and Kiehl’s — all necessary items the kids so desperately needed, from T-shirts to warm socks to toiletries. She also took time to speak and sing with many of the center’s kids, telling them that, while her experience is quite different from theirs, she has also struggled to cope with her trauma:

“I suffer from PTSD. I’ve never told anyone that before, so here we are. But the kindness that has been shown to me by doctors as well as my family and my friends, it’s really saved my life.”

Though Lady Gaga was raped at 19, it took her seven years to tell anyone, and the trauma took a toll on her psychologically, she revealed. “I’ve been searching for ways to heal myself, and I found that kindness is the best way,” she said. The songstress then asked Today viewers to complete at least one act of kindness before the year is over, saying, “The act itself — it’s free and it’s priceless.”

Lady Gaga Reveals She’s Had PTSD Since Being Raped As a Teen