After a "Today" show interview in which Lady Gaga revealed that she suffers from post traumatic stress disorder, the 30-year-old pop singer wrote an open letter to detail what it's like to live with the disorder.
Gaga, who alluded to being sexually assaulted at the age of 19 during a Howard Stern interview, said that now, years after she began experiencing mental changes and searching for answers about her trauma, she's ready to speak out.
"It is a daily effort for me ... to regulate my nervous system so that I don't panic over circumstances that to many would seem like normal life situations," she wrote.
Gaga said that leaving her house and being touched by strangers are basic actions that can cause her stress.
The "Til It Happens to You" singer also said she suffers from dissociation, which causes her to "look off and ... stare."
"I am a strong and powerful woman who is aware of the love I have around me from my team, my family and friends, my doctors and from my incredible fans who I know will never give up on me," she wrote. "I will never give up on my dreams of art and music. I am continuing to learn how to transcend this because I know I can. If you relate to what I am sharing, please know that you can too ... No one's invisible pain should go unnoticed."
Read the full letter at Born This Way Foundation.
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