By Amanda Wicks
In a candid interview with Billboard, Lady Gaga opened up about her own battles with depression and what led her to create the Born This Way Foundation.
Following the suicide of 14 year old Jamey Rodemeyer, a gay Lady Gaga fan, the singer formed a foundation to help marginalized youth find their place in a world that didn’t always welcome them. “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,” said Gaga.
Related: Watch Lady Gaga’s Emotional ‘Til It Happens To You’ Video
The singer launched the Born This Way Foundation, which in the last year has shifted to focus on preventative measures and peer support. The Foundation recently teamed up with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence to begin research on youth mental health, and will soon partner with the Elton John AIDs Foundation. “This foundation was born from the years I spent watching my fans grow up,” Lady Gaga said. “Many of them were really young: 11- to 17-year-olds in very tumultuous times. They would tell me their stories — and many of them were very dark. 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.”
Lady Gaga is no stranger to the issues many of those involved with the Foundation face. “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.”
