Lady Gaga has spoken about her mental health journey in a recent interview.
"I’ve actually not opened up very much about this, but I think it’s an important thing for people to know and hear: I was a cutter for a long time," The Star is Born actress said during her interview with Oprah Winfrey for Elle Magazine's December interview.
"The only way that I was able to stop cutting and self-harming myself was to realize that what I was doing was trying to show people that I was in pain instead of telling them and asking for help," she continued.
"I was raped when I was 19 years old, repeatedly", Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, told Winfrey. "I have been traumatized in a variety of ways by my career over the years from many different things, but I survived, and I’ve kept going."
She also revealed that she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and chronic pain;
"Neuropathic pain trauma response is a weekly part of my life. I’m on medication; I have several doctors. This is how I survive. But you know what, Oprah? I kept going, and that kid out there or even that adult out there who’s been through so much, I want them to know that they can keep going, and they can survive, and they can win their Oscar."
The 33-year-old then told Winfrey that opening up to someone about her urge to self-harm ultimately led her to recovery.
"I then had someone next to me saying, ‘You don’t have to show me. Just tell me: What are you feeling right now?’ And then I could just tell my story. I say that with a lot of humility and strength; I’m very grateful that I don’t do it anymore, and I wish to not glamorize it.
One thing that I would suggest to people who struggle with trauma response or self-harm issues or suicidal ideation is actually ice. If you put your hands in a bowl of ice-cold water, it shocks the nervous system, and it brings you back to reality.
I was in physical, mental and emotional pain. And medicine works, but you need medicine with the therapy for it to really work, because there’s a part that you have to do yourself."
The Telephone singer also spoke about suffering from fibromyalgia, a disorder which causes widespread musculoskeletal pain, as well as fatigue, sleep and mood issues, according to the Mayo Clinic.
"For me, my fibromyalgia and my trauma response kind of go hand in hand. The fibro for me is a lighter pain; the trauma response is much heavier and actually feels the way I felt after I was dropped on a street corner after I’d been raped repeatedly for months. It’s a recurring feeling."
