Lady Gaga Reveals to Oprah She Developed PTSD from Being Repeatedly Raped

Gettyimages | Frazer Harrison

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD is more commonly associated with soldiers and those that have suffered the atrocities of war, but it's a serious mental condition that affects people in so many different types of situations, eventually manifesting psychosomatic symptoms and in most cases, debilitating repercussions for those individuals.

Just recently, Lady Gagasat down with Oprah, just ahead of her national arena tour on the special Oprah's 2020 Vision: Your Life In Focus. During the segment, Lady Gaga vulnerably opened up to her past and how being raped resulted in her developing a serious case of PTSD. She also spoke about other physical morbidities she's experienced and rumors regarding dating Bradley Cooper.

Gettyimages | Frazer Harrison

Gaga opened up to Oprah sharing that when she was 19-years-old she was repeatedly raped, causing her unfathomable emotional distress. During the same time period, her career was taking off and she was immediately going on tour, preventing her from seeking the appropriate counseling and mental health treatment she so desperately needed.

"I was raped repeatedly when I was 19 years old, and I also developed PTSD as a result of being raped and also not processing that trauma,” she told Oprah.

"I all of a sudden became a star and was traveling the world going from hotel room to garage to limo to stage, and I never dealt with it, and then all of a sudden I started to experience this incredible intense pain throughout my entire body that mimicked the illness I felt after I was raped," the A Star Is Born actress continued.

Gettyimages | Dan MacMedan

The inability to seek help following these awful crimes resulted in a continuation of mental illness for her as she toured and performed. Gaga acknowledged that PTSD is so common for all types of people and shared that she thinks mental health and it's associated illnesses should be taught to students in every school.

Aside from opening up about her developing PTSD, Gaga also shared her struggle with her fibromyalgia, a painful condition that consists of chronic muscle pain, something she called 'head-to-toe' pain.

"What’s interesting about it is that I’ve found through neuropsych research and my relationship with my doctors that fibromyalgia can be treated through mental health therapy,” Gaga told Oprah.

“And mental health is a medical condition, it should be treated as a medical condition. It should not be ignored"

Gettyimages | Kevin Winter

The singer also felt compelled to address the dating rumors that naturally followed from the release of the hit film, A Star Is Born. In the film, Gaga plays a character that falls in love with Bradley Cooper. The on-screen chemistry was so real that it led people to believe that there might actually be something between the two in real life.

"We did a really good job at fooling everyone. We created that." Oprah responded by saying, "It wouldn’t have worked if you didn’t believe they weren’t in love." The performance in the film was truly that convincing, but unfortunately, it was simply a matter of excellent acting.

Gettyimages | Jamie McCarthy

Although Lady Gaga is fighting through the PTSD and fibromyalgia, she's still set up to start her national arena tour, the first in five years for the singer. She's also developing music for her sixth album, something she directly addressed with Oprah. "We’re having a self-care conversation but I’m still going to make music, don’t worry," she confirmed.

As for other guests that are slated to appear on Oprah's 2020 Vision: Your Life In Focus tour, the special has scheduled Tina Fey, Jennifer Lopez, and Michelle Obama.