Lady Gaga Reveals She Suffered From Psychosis During a Certain Era of Her Music: ‘I Was Not Deeply in Touch With Reality'
Lady Gaga has always been open about her life away from the spotlight, from the highs to the lows. She's opened up many things, with the most recent being her previous experiences with psychosis five years ago in 2020, amid her Chromatica era.
In a recent interview with The New York Times, Gaga revealed her previous diagnosis.
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'I had psychosis. 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 Joker 2 star said. 'It was a hard time, and it was actually really special when I met my partner because when I met Michael [Polansky], 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.''
She added, 'I hate feeling defined by it. It felt like something I felt ashamed of. 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.'
There is a lot of misconception around psychosis so we're going to break down what it actually is. Psychosis is a series of symptoms that affect the mind to 'where there has been some loss of contact with reality,' per The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). According to the same outlet, the symptoms vary, including paranoid ideas, trouble thinking logically, anxiety, confused speech, trouble sleeping due to fantasy, and more.
It's more common than you think: studies estimate that 15 to 100 people out of 100,000 develop psychosis each year. But what causes it? While Gaga didn't divulge what caused it, experts claim it can be caused from medications, 'physical or mental illness that emerges later in life,' sleep deprivation, and more.
However, it can be treated with antipsychotic medication, support, and more treatments recommended by your professional.
Gaga revealed in the interview that in order to feel better, she 'had to figure out a way to integrate [herself] fully with [her] stage persona.' She channeled 'Lady Gaga's boss energy,' adding, 'I'd like to think that I'm a kind person, but there's a ferociousness and a hardness and an intensity that I have onstage as a performer. So I had to learn how to hold those two things and have them not be at war with each other. I've learned to not pour gasoline on it. I used to like more chaos, just living life on the edge constantly. I'm now proud to be much more boring.'Best of SheKnows
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Susan Dominus has worked for The New York Times since 2007, first as a Metro columnist and then as staff writer for The New York Times Magazine. In 2018, she was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize for public service for its reporting on workplace sexual harassment. She won a Front Page Award from the Newswomen's Club of New York and a Mychal Judge Heart of New York Award from the New York Press Club. She has studied as a fellow at the National Institutes of Health and Yale Law School. Her article about menopause in The New York Times Magazine won a National Magazine Award in 2024. She teaches journalism at Yale University, and her new book, "The Family Dynamic: A Journey into the Mystery of Sibling Success," is out now. Follow her on Instagram @suedominus.
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