Lady Gaga Tells Oprah She Used to Self-Harm—and Reveals What Alleviated Her Pain
For the December issue of Elle, Lady Gaga opened up to Oprah Winfrey about mental health and the importance of being kind to others.
Specifically, she addressed her years-long battle with PTSD, chronic pain, and fibromyalgia, and also revealed that she used to cut herself.
As co-founder of the Born This Way Foundation with her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, Lady Gaga has for years been a staunch advocate of mental health awareness. The 33-year-old Grammy- and Oscar-winner has addressed her struggles with PTSD, chronic pain, depression, and sexual assault for years, and she did so once again, this time speaking on the subject with another expert in wellbeing: Oprah.
In an interview with Elle, Gaga powerfully admits to the O of O that she used to self-harm, offering fans—and those suffering from related mental health issues, such as suicidal thoughts—a practice that has helped her.
“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, and 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,” Gaga told Oprah. “When I realized that telling someone, ‘Hey, I am having an urge to hurt myself,’ that defused it. 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.”
Gaga said she no longer cuts, and that she doesn't want to “glamorize” that act. Instead, she offered words of encouragement: “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.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Gaga speaks about her fibromyalgia, also known as widespread muscle pain, revealing she had a “psychotic break at one point” from the suffering, but has learned to look ahead.
“I have PTSD. I have 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,” she said. “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 an Oscar.”
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