Lady Gaga Facetimes with Prince William To Discuss Mental Health Challenges

Lady Gaga had a Facetime chat with Prince William recently to discuss ending the stigma surrounding mental health. The video of their discussion was put out by the Heads Together campaign. Led by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, it seeks to end the stigma surrounding mental health. It uses the hashtag #oktosay to encourage people to share their stories. “They told beautiful stories and it reminded me how much my mental health changing changed my life,” Gaga said in the call.

Lady Gaga co-founded the Born this Way Foundation along with her mother Cynthia Germanotta, which seeks to boost younger people with communities and resources through programs. William said that he read an open letter Gaga wrote on the Born This Way Foundation website, in which she revealed her struggles with PTSD after a sexual assault at the age of 19. She wrote in part: “Traditionally, many associate PTSD as a condition faced by brave men and women that serve countries all over the world. While this is true, I seek to raise awareness that this mental illness affects all kinds of people, including our youth. I pledge not only to help our youth not feel ashamed of their own conditions, but also to lend support to those servicemen and women who suffer from PTSD. No one’s invisible pain should go unnoticed.” “It made me very nervous at first,” she said about writing the letter. “For me waking up every day and feeling sad and going on stage is something that is very hard to describe. There’s a lot of shame attached to mental illness, you feel like something’s wrong with you.”

The two discussed their goals in helping people better understand their own mental health by encouraging them to not only talk about it online, but to discuss it with friends or family members. “For me, the little bits that I’ve learnt so far about mental health… it’s okay to have this conversation, it’s really important to have this conversation. You won’t be judged,” William said. “It’s time everyone speaks up and feels really normal about mental health. It’s the same as physical health.” Prince Harry has also recently revealed he sought out mental health counseling in his 20’s to cope with the death of his mother, Princess Diana. At the end of the video, the two hope to meet for an in-person conversation in October when Gaga flies over to the UK.

Will the Impact of Two Powerful Icons Joining Forces Help Change Social Awareness for Mental Health?

Susan Z’s Conclusion: Yes!

Strength: Inverted (Upside Down)
This card is pretty self-explanatory. Being inverted I believe it represents it took great courage for both of them to make a public stand for something that has long been an embarrassment or something to be hidden.

Four of Pentacles: Inverted
This card represents financial issues and obsession with materialism. Since the card is inverted, I feel the message they are sending out to the public in general is that even famous and wealthy people deal with mental and emotional issues and to not be embarrassed by it.

Nine of Swords: Inverted
This card represents depression and mental distress. It is an obvious message and being inverted I believe that message is clear they will help turn the tide on people’s opinion of mental illness.