Lady Gaga reveals she suffers from post-traumatic stress

Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, was filmed speaking at the centre, after a surprise visit that included an intimate acoustic performance as part of the network’s Share Kindness campaign, the Guardian reports.

“I have a mental illness, and I struggle with that mental illness every day,” she said. She shared the meditation and mantra she uses as therapy: “You are brave, you are courageous.”

She told Today, “These children are not just homeless or in need; many of them are trauma survivors, they’ve been rejected in some type of way. My own trauma in my life has helped me to understand the trauma of others.”

“It’s really important to remind kids who are suffering from a traumatic experience or from abandonment, to remind them that they’re not alone, and that they’re loved,” she continued. “We are in this together.”

The singer, 28, first spoke out about her rape on the Howard Stern show in December 2014. “I was about 19,” she said at the time. “I went to Catholic school and then all this crazy stuff happened, and I was going, ‘Oh, is this just the way adults are?’... I was very naïve.”

“It happens every day, and it’s really scary, and it’s sad,” she said, explaining that the true effects didn’t hit until four or five years later. She didn’t tell anyone about it for seven years. “I was so traumatized by it that I was like, ‘Just keep going.’ Because I just had to get out of there.”