Lady Gaga, Prince William Break Down Mental Illness Stigma In Pond-Crossing FaceTime Call
Mental illness doesn't discriminate against age, gender or, as Lady Gaga and Prince William proved in a recent FaceTime call, timezones.
Gaga and William, who have both been involved in initiatives to combat stigma surrounding mental illness, had a frank cross-pond chat that was uploaded to Twitter very early this morning (April 18). William began the conversation by lauding Gaga for being so transparent about her condition in a recent open letter, and Gaga admitted that contending with depression is not easy.
"It made me very nervous at first, waking up every day and feeling sad and going on stage is something that is very hard to describe," she said. "There's a lot of shame attached to mental illness; you feel like something's wrong with you...I should be so happy, but you can't help it if in the morning, when you wake up, you are so tired, you are so sad, you are so full of anxiety and the shakes that you can barely think."
Gaga added that there's been a silver lining to her struggles, and that she's been heartened to so openly communicate with fans who have similar struggles.
“Even though it was hard, [it was] the best thing that could come out of my mental illness was to share it with other people and let our generation, as well as other generations know that if you are feeling not well in your mind that you’re not alone and that people that you think would never have a problem, do,” she noted.
And William underscored the importance of keeping conversations about mental illness alive, and not letting shame force sufferers into the shadows.
“It’s time that everyone speaks up and really feels very normal about mental health, it’s the same as physical health," he said. "Everybody has mental health and we shouldn’t be ashamed of it and just having a conversation with a friend or family member can really make such a difference.”
Stars Who Have Opened Up About Mental Illness: