Lady Gaga says she struggles with depression, anxiety
Lady Gaga might be known as Mother Monster, but the pop star said she still doesn't always feel strong and confident.
Gaga told Billboard that like many of her fans, she battles anxiety and depression.
"I've suffered through depression and anxiety my entire life, I still suffer with it every single day," she said. "I just want these kids to know that that depth that they feel as human beings is normal. We were born that way. This modern thing, where everyone is feeling shallow and less connected? That's not human."
Gaga now runs a nonprofit called the Born This Way Foundation that teaches kids they're not alone, and they can overcome their depression.
She said she was inspired by her young fans who were bullied and lonely.
"They would tell me their stories -- and many of them were very dark," said the "American Horror Story: Hotel" star. "As I began to care for them and to see myself in them, I felt I had to do something that would remind kids they're not alone. When they feel isolated, that's when it leads to suicide."
Gaga said she wants her fans to know that there's a community for them to feel empowered.
"We don't have to be victims," she said. "If we share our stories and stick together, we're stronger."
The singer mentioned a gay Lady Gaga fan named Jamey Rodemeyer, a 14-year-old who took his own life after getting bullied at school, as inspiration for her intiative.
"Jamey and other teens who take their lives young because they feel different -- I wanted to make [ their deaths] a lesson instead of a casualty of our negligence," she explained.
Gaga's foundation offers peer support and preventative initiatives, and works with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence to do research on youth and mental health.
The pop singer in part blamed social media and Internet culture for the isolation youths feel.
"These kids just want to feel human, but they feel like robots," she said. "They don't understand why they're so sad. There are scientific reasons, which the foundation researches, why you feel sad when you look at your phone all day."
Gaga cited Elton John as a source of inspiration for Born This Way: She said John checks up on her and does not let her "slip into depression."