Lady Gaga Opens Up About Her Struggle With Mental Illness

Lady Gaga opened up about her struggle with mental illness during a recent visit to Harlem's Ali Forney Center, a shelter for homeless LGBT youth, on behalf of the #ShareKindness campaign. "I love to give things to people that have nothing or less than me," the "Million Reasons" singer told Today during a segment that was aired on Monday. "These children are not just homeless or in need. Many of them are trauma survivors; they've been rejected in some kind of way," she said. "My own trauma in my life has helped me to understand the trauma of others."

While Gaga has been very outspoken about being a victim of sexual violence, she has never publicly spoken about living with post-traumatic stress disorder, until now. "I told the kids today that I suffer from a mental illness," she added. "I suffer from PTSD. I've never told anyone that before, so here we are. 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." See her inspiring message in the video above.