Pop star Says She Suffers from PTSD After Being Raped

"I have a mental illness, and I struggle with that mental illness every day."

Lady Gaga made a surprising revelation on Monday: The pop star says she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after being raped as a teenager.

Gaga opened up about her battle during a chat with teenagers at New York City’s Ali Forney Center, a shelter for homeless LGBT youth, and discussed her condition further in an interview with the Today show. “I have a mental illness, and I struggle with that every day,” she told the teens. “My own trauma in my own life has helped me to understand the trauma of others.”

She elaborated on her comments on Today. “I suffer from PTSD,” she says. “I’ve never told anyone that before, so here we are.”

The singer says her post-traumatic stress disorder began after she was raped by an older record producer when she was 19. She first publicly disclosed the assault during an interview with Howard Stern in 2014. “I was a shell of my former self at one point,” she said in the interview. “I was not myself. And to be fair, I was about 19, so I went to Catholic school, and then all this crazy stuff happened, and I was going, ‘Oh, is this just the way adults are?’”

Now, Gaga says she finds comfort in the kindness she's felt from doctors, family, and friends—and sharing that kindness with others. “I’ve been searching for ways to heal myself, and I’ve found that kindness is the best way,” she told Today.

About 8 million people suffer from PTSD each year, according to the National Center for PTSD.