Relationships September 7, 2017
"The best thing that could come out of my mental illness was to share it."
Lady Gaga is the outrageous pop star who turns heads at every red carpet event with her unique dresses. But, she’s more than her poker face and meat dress.
Lady Gaga isn’t your typical pop star. She definitely portrayed that with a Facetime call to Prince William where she talked about her mental illness. Mental health illnesses have become stigmatized and speaking about your mental illness is social suicide. But Lady Gaga ventured into a territory society conditioned most people to stay out of it.
This quote, along with most Lady Gaga quotes, speaks a truth that a lot of people quietly deal with on a daily basis. Her quote exposes the idea that a mental illness can infect anyone despite their background.
In 2014 Lady Gaga announced deals with post traumatic stress disorder as a sexual assault victim.
The “Million Reasons” singer spoke to Prince William after joining the Duke of Cambridge’s Heads Together. The Prince, Duchess and Prince Harry led the campaign dedicated to raising awareness of mental illness.
The video was part of a #okaytosay series that showed people from different backgrounds speaking about their experience with mental illness.
With this video, Lady Gaga and Prince William hoped to remove the stigma around mental illnesses. They hoped to normalize the issue to inspire more people to come forward about their problems.
“Even though it was hard, [it was] the best thing that could come out of my mental illness was to share it with other people and let our generation, as well as other generations know that if you are feeling not well in your mind that you’re not alone and that people that you think would never have a problem, do,” Lady Gaga said.
Lady Gaga came forward to say that, as a strong, powerful and successful woman, she still deals with PTSD. She showed mental illnesses aren’t a sign of weakness but as normal as a physical illness.
Prince William continued to say, “It’s time that everyone speaks up and really feels very normal about mental health. It’s the same as physical health. Everybody has mental health, and we shouldn’t be ashamed of it and just having a conversation with a friend or family member can really make such a difference.”
The Prince’s mother Princess Diana also dealt with a mental illness and struggled with suicidal thoughts.
Ultimately, this video was one of many steps in removing the stigma surrounding mental illnesses.
But this isn’t the first time Lady Gaga has spoken out about mental illnesses.
In 2016, she visited the Ali Forney Center, a shelter for homeless LGBT youth located in Harlem. This visit was on behalf of the Today and NBCUniversal #ShareKindness campaign.
“Kindness, to me, is an action of love or a showing of love to someone else,” Lady Gaga told Today. “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.”
She continued to say that her trauma as a rape victim helps her be more compassionate towards the trauma of other. So, she gives back to people who have nothing or less than she does.
“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,” Lady Gaga said.
A lot of the pop singer’s songs are tongue-in-cheek but she doesn’t take her dedication to mental illnesses lightly. And that’s why we love and adore Lady Gaga. She speaks out about important matters despite how people might view her because of it. She’s not afraid to sacrifice her own reputation for the well-being of others. And ENTITY stands by her decision to do so.
