Lady Gaga is known for her candor and openness when it comes to speaking about her struggles with mental health. But as her mother, Cynthia Germanotta acknowledges that she didn’t initially understand why her famous daughter felt compelled to share so candidly — and without prompting — from the stage.

Over time, however, Germanotta’s perspective changed, especially as she began noticing that when Lady Gaga recounted her struggles, there was almost a visible sense of relief on the faces of many of her fans. “What I came to realize is that [in sharing these details], she was healing and her fans were healing. … I think the fans eventually came to hear her message of resilience and courage as much as the music.”

Speaking in front of approximately 4,000 attendees during her keynote talk Friday morning at the American Counseling Association 2019 Conference & Expo in New Orleans, Germanotta said that experience was the genesis of the Born This Way Foundation, a nonprofit that she and Lady Gaga co-founded in 2012 to empower youth and to eliminate the stigma around mental health.

Today, Germanotta said, she and the other Born This Way Foundation staff members “spend our days inviting conversations around mental health.” One of those staff members, Executive Director Maya Enista Smith, joined Germanotta on stage to facilitate the keynote presentation.

Germanotta shared some of her famous daughter’s backstory, telling the audience that when Lady Gaga (real name, Stefani) was in middle school, she faced a significant degree of taunting and humiliation. This caused her to question her self-worth and resulted in struggles with depression and trauma. These experiences “followed her to high school and college,” Germanotta said, and continued to plague her into her adult life.

As she found her voice, however, Lady Gaga decided to channel that hurt into helping others. She told her mother that she wished she had been better equipped to deal with life’s struggles as a young person and had a desire to give today’s youth the necessary tools to do what she couldn’t at the time.

According to Germanotta, in research conducted through the Born This Way Foundation, access to care (particularly access to affordable care) and simply not knowing where to turn for help are among the top issues impacting youth mental health. In one of the foundation’s studies, it was found that more than 90 percent of youth said they valued their mental health (even more than said they valued their physical health). However, less than 50 percent reported feeling that they had the tools to practice good mental health or knew where to turn for help.

“It’s important to treat mental health; it’s even more important to foster it,” Germanotta said.

Part of overcoming this barrier is simply inviting young people to have conversations around mental health and then giving or pointing them to the tools they need to help themselves and their peers. One of the Born This Way Foundation’s initiatives has been developing a Teen Mental Health First Aid program, developed in partnership with young people, that will be piloted in eight schools later this year.

One of the best things that parents can do — including parents who just so happen to be counselors — is to talk to their children about mental health, Germanotta said. She acknowledged that these discussions can sometimes be awkward, but “normalizing that conversation around mental health” can be a huge source of support for young people and provide them many of the tools they are missing. She also recommended that parents model this talk around the dinner table, “being very honest and open about your own issues and stressors.” One of the main reasons that teenagers don’t turn to their parents for help with mental health struggles is because they don’t hear their parents share about their own challenges openly, Germanotta said.

As for steps that counselors can take, Germanotta again stressed that “young people are struggling with not knowing where to go for that help. … Help them find you, what you do, and what resources are available to them.”

She also said that “one size does not fit all concerning what the answer or resource might be. You really can’t be prescriptive. … It comes back to meeting young people where they are and understanding their needs.”

Finally, Germanotta gave counselors a reminder: “Check your judgment at the door when talking to young people.” Feeling judged is one of the biggest reasons that young people choose not to open up and talk to adults about their struggles, she said.

Germanotta also invited counselors to partner and collaborate with the Born This Way Foundation in reaching young people. “It’s going to take us all,” she said. “We can’t do this alone. … The hope that I have is that this issue is being more recognized every day on a larger scale.”

When Lady Gaga was in college, some of her fellow students started a Facebook page called “Stefani Germanotta Will Never Be Famous.” Perhaps they didn’t realize how hurtful their words and actions might be to a young woman’s emotional and mental health. Regardless, they certainly missed the mark when it came to prognosticating the future Lady Gaga’s worldwide level of recognition and influence.

Fortunately, Lady Gaga is passionate about using her stage not just to boost her own fame, but to preach a message of resilience, kindness and courage — and to validate that it’s perfectly OK to live with, and seek help for, mental health issues.

Germanotta recounted to ACA Conference attendees what her daughter has told her: “Of course I want to be remembered for my music, but what I most want to be remembered for is helping young people change the world.”

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Find out more about the Born This Way Foundation at bornthisway.foundation

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In her own words

Read more about Germanotta’s perspective and experience through two articles she has written:

• “Lady Gaga’s Mom: What My Daughter Taught Me About Anxiety & Depression” (Refinery29)
• “When I Realized I Needed to Change the Way I Talk to My Daughters About Mental Health” (The Mighty)

 

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Jonathan Rollins is the editor-in-chief of Counseling Today. Contact him at jrollins@counseling.org.

Follow Counseling Today on Twitter @ACA_CTonline and on Facebook at facebook.com/CounselingToday.

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Opinions expressed and statements made in articles appearing on CT Online should not be assumed to represent the opinions of the editors or policies of the American Counseling Association.