As Lady Gaga‘s latest album, Mayhem, which debuted last week, continues to receive praise, she is also shedding light on her struggle with psychosis. This challenge extended the time it took for the Grammy winner, 38, to complete the record.
Recently, Gaga was featured on The New York Times’ podcast The Interview, where she offered an honest reflection. In this conversation, the “Disease” singer discussed her mental health issues and explained the delay in her album’s production.
Lady Gaga Shares Health Update After 'Psychosis' Diagnosis
"I had psychosis," the "Abracadabra" artist shared. She added, "I was not deeply in touch with reality for a while. It took me out of life in a big way, and after a lot of years of hard work I got myself back."
The "Bad Romance" hitmaker, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, mentioned that her difficult experience occurred roughly five years ago and remains challenging for her to discuss.
She explained, "It’s something that I have found increasingly harder to talk about." Gaga continued, "I hate feeling defined by it. It felt like something I felt ashamed of."
The Joker: Folie à Deux actress went on, "But I don’t think that we should feel ashamed if we go through times like that. I mostly just wish to say, it can get better. It did for me, and I’m grateful for that."
The House of Gucci alum shared that her fiancé, Michael Polansky, greatly eased her journey in managing her mental health diagnosis.
"When I met Michael, I was in a much better place, but I remember him saying to me, pretty early on, ‘I know you could be a lot happier than you are,’" Gaga revealed.
Regarding her businessman beau, 47, Gaga continued, "It was really hard for me to hear him say that because I didn’t want him to think that of me. I wanted him to think I was like this happy, totally together person."
In a 2019 interview with Elle, Gaga also shared additional details about this event, which later inspired her 2020 song, "911." She told the outlet, "I had a psychotic break at one point, and it was one of the worst things that’s ever happened to me."
Gaga added, "And I didn’t understand what was going on, because my whole body went numb; I fully dissociated. I was screaming, and then [the ER psychiatrist] calmed me down and gave me medication for when that happens—olanzapine. [The drug] helped me that day, and that man and all my friends, they saved my life."
