Lady Gaga has opened up about the ‘total psychotic break’ she suffered after being raped as a teenager.

Opening up in Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry’s new docuseries The Me You Can’t See, Gaga broke down in tears as she recalled how a producer had once threatened to burn her music if she didn’t remove her clothes.

Gaga, now 35, had been just 19 years old at the time, and the incident proved to have a significant impact on her mental health, driving her to self harm.

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Gaga, who did not name the rapist, told Oprah:

They didn’t stop asking me, and then I just froze, and I just – I don’t even remember. I do not ever want to face that person again.

Afterwards, Gaga revealed she was ‘sick for weeks and weeks’, which her emotional pain manifesting in a physical way:

I realised that it was the same pain that I felt when the person who raped me dropped me off pregnant on a corner, at my parent’s house, ’cause I was vomiting and sick, ’cause I had been being abused. I was locked away in a studio for months.

Gaga went on to tell Oprah how she suffered a ‘total psychotic break’ as a result of the trauma and how for a couple years she was ‘not the same girl’.

Speaking about her experiences with self harm, Gaga continued:

You think you’re gonna feel better ’cause you’re showing somebody, ‘Hey, look I’m in pain.’ It doesn’t help. I always tell people, ‘Tell somebody. Don’t show somebody’.

Describes her own improvements in her mental health as ‘a slow rise’, Gaga advised others to be patience with themselves and their progress:

You get frustrated with yourself, ‘Why am I not getting better? What’s wrong with me?’ And you know what, there’s nothing wrong with you, but there is something that’s not firing right.

She continued:

Open your heart up for somebody else, because I’m telling you, I’ve been through it and people need help. That’s part of my healing, is being able to talk to you.

The Me You Can’t See is a docuseries about mental health and features stories from individuals such as Oprah, Prince Harry and Glenn Close.

The Me You Can’t See is now available to stream on Apple TV+.

If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact the Rape Crisis England and Wales helpline on 0808 802 9999 between 12pm–2.30pm and 7pm– 9.30pm every day. Alternatively, you can contact Victim Support free on 08 08 16 89 111 available 24/7, every day of the year, including Christmas.