Answer Addiction

Tag: Born This Way Foundation

  • Lady Gaga Talks To Oprah About PTSD, Working Through Trauma & Self-Harm

    Lady Gaga Talks To Oprah About PTSD, Working Through Trauma & Self-Harm

    “I have PTSD. I have chronic pain. Neuropathic pain trauma response is a weekly part of my life. I’m on medication; I have several doctors. This is how I survive,” Gaga said.

    Lady Gaga and Oprah Winfrey dove deep into mental health, healing from deep-rooted trauma and the benefits of getting treatment on a recent episode of Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations podcast. The power duo have both been outspoken mental health advocates throughout their careers.

    Living With Trauma

    The Bad Romance singer has long been a champion of inclusivity and owning your truth and her sitdown with her mogul hero was exceptionally open and honest. The founder of the Born This Way Foundation discussed her past trauma and how she manages it.

    “I have PTSD. I have chronic pain. Neuropathic pain trauma response is a weekly part of my life. I’m on medication; I have several doctors. This is how I survive,” Gaga said. “I would also beckon to anyone to try, when they feel ready, to ask for help. And I would beckon to others that if they see someone suffering, to approach them and say, ‘Hey, I see you. I see that you’re suffering, and I’m here. Tell me your story.’”

    Then the singer revealed that she self-injured for a number of years in the hopes of helping another person who self-harm see that they’re are not alone.

    “I was a cutter for a long time, and the only way that I was able to stop cutting and self-harming myself was to realize that what I was doing was trying to show people that I was in pain instead of telling them and asking for help. When I realized that telling someone, ‘Hey, I am having an urge to hurt myself,’ that defused it. I then had someone next to me saying, ‘You don’t have to show me. Just tell me: What are you feeling right now?’ And then I could just tell my story.”

    Using Dialectical Behavioral Therapy To Heal

    The Grammy award-winning singer no longer self-harms – she also clarified that her admission is not meant to glamorize it any way.

    “One thing that I would suggest to people who struggle with trauma response or self-harm issues or suicidal ideation is actually ice. If you put your hands in a bowl of ice-cold water, it shocks the nervous system, and it brings you back to reality.”

    Gaga went on to rave about her experience with dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT). With DBT, patients are encouraged to explore the emotions surrounding their trauma so they begin the path to accceptance.  

    “I think that DBT is a wonderful, wonderful way to deal with mental health issues,” Gaga pined. “It’s a really strong way of learning how to live, and it’s a guide to understanding your emotions.” And for Gaga understanding and acceptance are important keys to life.

    “I believe life is asking of us to accept the challenge. Accept the challenge of kindness. It’s hard in a world the way that we are; we have a very, very grave history. We’re in trouble, and we have been before. But I think life asks us amid these challenges, this hatred, this tragedy, this famine, this war, this cruelty: Can you be kind and can you survive?”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Lady Gaga’s Mother Discusses Singer’s Childhood Mental Health

    Lady Gaga’s Mother Discusses Singer’s Childhood Mental Health

    “What I didn’t realize because I wasn’t prepared, was how to really deal with it. When I was growing up, times were different.”

    With her incredible success, Lady Gaga has used her powerful platform to speak out about mental health with her Born This Way Foundation.

    Now, her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, spoke with CBS This Morning about how parents can deal with children that are struggling with their mental health. 

    Throughout her life, Lady Gaga, born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, has struggled with depression, anxiety and PTSD.

    “As a parent, I wasn’t prepared to really address this,” Cynthia explains. “Stefani was very unique, and that wasn’t always appreciated by her peers, and as a result, she went through a lot of difficult times – humiliated, taunted, isolated.”

    My Generation Was Told To Suck It Up

    Upon entering middle school, Germanotta saw her daughter go from “a very happy and aspirational young girl to somebody that started to question her self-worth, to have doubts about herself. What I didn’t realize because I wasn’t prepared, was how to really deal with it. When I was growing up, times were different. The way that we would deal with things was what we learned. I relied on the generational grit of just sucking it up and getting on with it.”

    Once she saw her daughter clearly struggling, Cynthia says, “It’s very hard to know what to do. The profound impact that it can have (on families). It basically turns the focus of everything onto that one individual. Families feel conflicted about it, they don’t really understand it, it causes conflict, and a lot of stress within the families. It can also cause feelings of guilt and helplessness, not knowing how to help my daughter. What I’ve learned is that no family is immune to this.”

    Parents: Listen To Your Children, Share Your Own Struggles

    For families that are struggling with troubled teens, Germanotta recommended that parents simply listen.  

    “What I learned from my daughter is to listen and validate her feelings. I think as parents our natural instinct is to go into problem-solving mode, when in fact they really just want us to take them seriously and understand what they’re saying.” 

    While a lot of troubled youth don’t feel comfortable talking to their parents about their struggles out of “fear of being judged,” Germanotta adds that “as parents we don’t talk about our own struggles. I encourage parents to be vulnerable. Talk about your current and past struggles. The biggest thing is to talk to them.” 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation Opens Mental Health Program

    Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation Opens Mental Health Program

    The program will help teens learn how to be a trustworthy friend that their peers can confide in.

    Since launching in 2011, Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation has been on a mission to educate the world on mental health, and encourage people to speak out and get help.

    Now, the Born This Way Foundation is opening a mental health program at a number of high schools in the country.

    As Las Vegas Now reports, the Born This Way program will launch in eight high schools this spring, including Valley High School in Vegas where students who participate will be trained in Mental Health First Aid.

    Valley High School Principal Ramona Esparza says, “We are so grateful to have been chosen as one of the only eight pilot schools in the nation to introduce Teen Mental Health First Aid to our senior class. We teach and reach the ‘whole child,’ so social-emotional learning is essential to academic learning and growth for our students.”

    Esparza added that Born This Way, along with the National Council for Behavioral Health, “have truly carved a new path for youth to know that there is not a stigma to seeking support and resources for mental health and wellness,” and that this program will be “a game-changer.”

    Students who partake in the program will learn a five-step plan they can apply to friends who are struggling with their mental health and may need help. Five staff members of Valley High have been trained in Mental Health First Aid as well.

    This program is being set up at Valley High School to coincide with Lady Gaga’s residency at Park MGM in Vegas. As Cynthia Germanotta, Gaga’s mother, and president and co-founder of the Born This Way Foundation, explains, “Knowing how to spot the signs that someone in our lives is experiencing a mental health challenge and understanding how we can support that person is a basic life skill we all need to have—especially teenagers.”

    Through this program, teens will learn how to be a trustworthy friend that peers in trouble can confide in.

    Linda Rosenberg, president and CEO of the National Council for Behavioral Health, says, “Teens trust their friends, so they need to be trained to recognize signs of mental health or substance use problems in their peers.”

    Another state where the foundation is setting up shop is Montana.

    As Shani Rich, director of the North Central Montana Area Health Education Center, told KXLH, “Montana has one of the highest rates of suicide per capita in the U.S… So we have to start having this conversation.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Lady Gaga Gives Passionate Speech About Mental Health

    Lady Gaga Gives Passionate Speech About Mental Health

    “I have struggled for a long time, both being public and not public about my mental health issues… But I truly believe that secrets keep you sick.”

    Lady Gaga joined her mother on stage at the 10th annual Children Mending Hearts Empathy Rocks fundraiser on Sunday (June 10), where she presented her mother Cynthia Germanotta with the Global Changemakers Award for her role as co-founder of the Born This Way Foundation.

    The mother-daughter team established the foundation in 2012, with the goal of empowering youth by providing “genuine opportunities, quality resources, and platforms to make their voices heard.”

    Before presenting her mother with the award, Gaga (born Stefani Germanotta) shared her personal stake in the foundation’s work, as well as the driving force behind it.

    “I have struggled for a long time, both being public and not public about my mental health issues or my mental illness. But I truly believe that secrets keep you sick,” she said.

    The eclectic singer emphasized the importance of kindness. “We [the foundation] bring people together to have real, honest conversations and to be kind. Kindness is not an afterthought to our work. It is the driving power for everything we do,” she said. “To me, almost every problem you can think of can be solved with kindness… Sometimes people think it is weak. It is tremendously powerful.

    “It can change the way that we view each other, the way that we view our communities and the way that we work. Even the way that we feel about ourselves, by being kinder to ourselves. We need more kindness in the world.”

    She thanked her mother for standing by her through it all, “Thank you, Mom, for not being afraid of my darkest thoughts and for doing what many don’t realize goes very far: just holding my hand and running an organization that helps hold the hands of others and join the hands of others. I love you. Suicidal ideation feels like a spell, and we have to have empathy. Be kind and help each other break the spell and live and thrive.”

    Last year, Gaga lent her voice to the Heads Together campaign, the initiative spearheaded by the British Royals—Prince William, Duchess Kate Middleton, and Prince Harry—to de-stigmatize mental illness and encourage people to seek help. The singer video-chatted with Prince William for a promotional video, discussing the importance of caring for one’s mental health and how talking about it can break down the stigma and shame of struggling with it.

    Gaga told William that it was gratifying to be able to open up to her fans without shame. “Even though it was hard, it was the best thing that could come out of my mental illness—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, you’re not alone. And people that you think would never have a problem, do.”

    View the original article at thefix.com