Lady Gaga and her new pal Prince William are teaming up to shatter stigma surrounding mental health, one unlikely but powerful FaceTime chat at a time.
The two had a transatlantic video chat live on Facebook Tuesday as part of the “Heads Together” campaign spearheaded by William, his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince Harry. Heads Together most recently launched a series of films centered around the importance of speaking up about mental health.
William was inspired to get Gaga involved in the campaign after reading an open letter she wrote in 2016, revealing she struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Their chat stressed the importance of talking openly about mental illness, a critical way to help counter stigma: Research shows that stigma is a barrier to people who might otherwise seek help. Gaga touched on the shame surrounding the condition and the fact that it can affect anyone, regardless of who they are and what their good fortune is.
“In my life I go ‘Oh my goodness, look at all these beautiful, wonderful things that I have, I should be so happy,’” she told William. “But you can’t help it if in the morning when you wake up you are so tired, you are so sad, you are so full of anxiety and the shakes that you can barely think.”
For his part, William agreed that an open dialogue is crucial for anyone, whether you’re a pop star, a prince or otherwise.
“It’s time that everyone speaks up and feels very normal about mental health,” he said. “It’s the same as physical health.”
Gaga admitted that while she was nervous about speaking up at first, sharing her mental illness ended up being the best thing to come out of it.
The two ended the call by making plans to meet when Gaga visits the United Kingdom in October. We can’t wait to see what they accomplish together IRL.
