In late November 2016, music superstar Lady Gaga revealed that she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). While visiting teens at a centre for homeless youth in New York with The Today Show, Gaga shared her experience, explaining how those around her have helped her cope with the condition. “The kindness that’s been shown to me by doctors — as well as my family and my friends — it’s really saved my life,” she said.
While the singer is a rape survivor, an incident that she spoke openly about in 2014, she told fans on social media following her Today Show interview that this was not the only event that had contributed to her PTSD. “It wasn't just sexual assault that led to my complex PTSD,” she tweeted, “I have [experienced] prolonged repetitive traumas over the course of my career.”
What exactly is post-traumatic stress disorder?
Most people associate PTSD with war veterans, but this anxiety disorder can affect anyone who goes through a distressing event. According to The Mental Health Information Centre, PTSD is relatively common in South Africa because of the frequency of violent crimes, with rates as high as 20% reported by local clinics.
PTSD can result from sexual or physical violence, an accident, the death of a close friend or family member, and any situation in which someone is harmed or feels severely threatened. Although it’s natural for traumatic events to have a negative impact, for people with PTSD the feelings of fear, anger, shock and sometimes guilt are very strong and persist for a longer period of time, affecting their day-to-day lives.
In a personal letter published on her Born This Way Foundation site, Lady Gaga shared some of her PTSD symptoms. “It is a daily effort for me, even during this album cycle, to regulate my nervous system so that I don’t panic over circumstances that to many would seem like normal life situations,” she wrote. “Examples are leaving the house or being touched by strangers who simply want to share their enthusiasm for my music. I also experience something called dissociation which means that my mind doesn’t want to relive the pain so 'I look off and I stare' in a glazed over state.”
Other symptoms of PTSD include anxiety, flashbacks, nightmares or hallucinations about the event, avoiding people and situations that remind one of the trauma, and emotional changes such as feeling aggressive, guilty, hopeless or easily frightened. Experiencing PTSD also increases the risk of substance abuse, and other mental health issues like depression.
5 things you need to know about PTSD
1. Anyone can get PTSD: People of all ages and backgrounds can suffer from PTSD; the condition doesn't indicate weakness.
2. Certain factors increase your risk: Having lived through past trauma, experiencing further stress after a difficult event, a lack of social support, and a history of mental illness make one more likely to suffer from PTSD.
3. You don’t have to be directly affected by trauma: In some cases, the loved ones of those who’ve had terrible experiences develop PTSD.
4. PTSD doesn't always develop immediately: Symptoms of the condition can occur anywhere from within three months of the triggering event to years after.
5. Medical crises can cause PTSD: Studies conducted by Columbia University Medical Centre in the USA, and published in the Public Library of Science journal PLOS ONE found that 1 in 4 stroke victims and 1 in 8 heart attack victims develop PTSD.
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