Lady Gaga Revealed She Has Been Living with PTSD Since Being Raped

Through both her lyrics and her public life, Lady Gaga is a vocal and visible ally to people who have faced tough times in life. She fights for LGBT rights and writes anthems about empowerment. But it turns out that through it all, she was hiding a struggle that affects her every day: post-traumatic stress disorder.

During a segment on the Today show Monday, Gaga visited the Ali Forney Center, a shelter serving homeless LGBTQ youth, as part of the show's "Share Kindness" series. She surprised the group with a performance, donated winter clothing and supplies, and sat down to talk about how to overcome adversity.

The singer was raped when she was 19, and has been open about her experience; she dedicated the song "Til It Happens To You" to fellow survivors of sexual assault. But she never revealed that she's still dealing with the psychological effects of the trauma until now. "I suffer from PTSD," she told interviewers. "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."