Lady Gaga revealed that she was receiving psychiatric care and taking prescribed lithium during the filming of "A Star Is Born."
In an interview with Rolling Stone, the Oscar-winning artist said the demands of filming the 2018 movie while touring her "Joanne" album eventually led to a breakdown.
"I did 'A Star Is Born' on lithium," Gaga said. "There was one day that my sister said to me, 'I don't see my sister anymore.'"
Gaga explained that after she canceled her tour, she went to a hospital "for psychiatric care."
"I needed to take a break. I couldn't do anything," she said.
"I completely crashed. It was really scary."
Gaga recalled, "There was a time where I didn't think I could get better. … I feel really lucky to be alive."
"I know that might sound dramatic, but we know how this can go."
Lithium is a medication used to stabilize mood in conditions such as bipolar disorder and manic depression.
Gaga said the treatment coincided with what she described as a psychotic break during the "Joanne" tour, which ultimately forced her to halt performances.
Reflecting on her recovery, Gaga told Rolling Stone that she has since become "a healthy, whole person," crediting her fiancé, Michael Polansky, for helping her regain balance.
"Being in love with someone that cares about the real me made a very big difference," she said. "How do you learn how to be yourself with someone when you don't know how to be yourself with anyone?"
The singer has long been open about her experiences with mental illness.
In a 2020 appearance on CBS News' "Sunday Morning," she said she had once contemplated suicide "every day" and struggled with being in the spotlight.
"It's not always easy if you have mental issues to let other people see," she said. "I used to show; I used to self-harm."
"I used to say, 'Look, I cut myself, see I'm hurting.' Because I didn't think anyone could see, because mental health, it's invisible."
During that same interview, Gaga described feeling burned out and resentful of her public image, saying she began to hate herself and questioned whether she wanted to live.
"I didn't really understand why I should live, other than to be there for my family," she said.
In a separate interview with Paper Magazine, she revealed she had been diagnosed with clinical depression.
"Give me a break, [happiness is] not that simple," she said.
"I have clinical depression. There's something going on in my brain where the dopamine and serotonin are not firing the same way, and I can't get there."
"If someone says, 'Come on, just be happy,' I'm like, 'You f****** be happy.'"
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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