Lady Gaga has long been an image of strength for women and the LGBTQ community but last Monday, she has revealed something that she has kept secret for a long time.

In the "Today Show" Lady Gaga revealed that she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. The singer said that this condition actually started after she was raped at the age of 19.

Rolling Stone reported the "American Horror Story" star's battle with PTSD. She said that it was a secret but she had to let it out: "Secrets keep you sick with shame."

Lady Gaga also said that she has always kept this condition to herself but thanks to the kindness of people like her doctors, her friends and family, she is healing herself.

The 30-year old singer also visited Ali Forney Center in New York City which is a shelter for homeless LGBTQ youth. She shared her mental condition and spoke of kindness as the best treatment of all.

She also discussed how meditation helped her cope with PTSD. The "Today Show" segment ended with Lady Gaga playing "Million Reasons" in guitar. This was a song from her latest LP entitled "Joanne."

Meanwhile, Huffington Post also reported Lady Gaga's visit to the homeless shelter. The report said that the "Poker Face" singer called upon the kids that were in the shelter saying that many of them were in some sort of trauma and has survived.

The kids also suffer from some type of rejection. "I am no better than any of those kids. And I'm no worse than any of them," Lady Gaga said.

Lady Gaga called the youth as her equals and said they are all together in their fight for acceptance and support.

It was actually in 2014 when she opened up about being raped at 19 in an interview for "The Howard Stern Show." She said before that she did not tell anyone about her experience because she did not want it to define who she was.

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