Although Lady Gaga now considers herself to be a “healthy, sane person,” that wasn’t always the case.
“I made ‘A Star Is Born’ on lithium,” the multi-hyphenate told Rolling Stone in a lengthy profile published Thursday.
The Oscar-winning film, co-starring Bradley Cooper, was released in theaters in October 2018.
(Lithium is a mood stabilizer typically prescribed to manage symptoms of bipolar disorder. Gaga has not disclosed her diagnosis.)
Immediately after filming the film, Gaga embarked on her Joan world tour from August 2017 to February 2018, during which she suffered a psychotic episode.
“One day, my sister said, ‘I’m never going to see her again,’ and canceled the tour,” the pop star recalled.
“One day I went to the hospital for psychiatric treatment. I needed to rest. I couldn’t do anything. … I completely collapsed. It was really scary.”
At the time, the 39-year-old Gaga certainly didn’t think she would “get better.”
“I feel really lucky to be alive,” she confessed. “It may sound dramatic, but we know how this goes.”
She was finishing her 2020 album Chromatica when she met her current fiancé, Michael Polanski, in December 2019. This record was about healing, but its creator was actually struggling.
“I sat on the porch all day and smoked three packs of cigarettes,” Gaga explained, noting that she was preparing to report on the project and brag about what a great place she thought it was. The coronavirus pandemic derailed those plans.
“I was the best I could be for someone who smoked pot all day, downed a few bottles of wine and passed out,” she said.
Mr. Polanski, a Harvard-educated technology entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist, continued to offer his views at the time.
“What I always noticed was how helpless she felt and how she wasn’t in charge of her own life,” the 42-year-old told the magazine.
“I have never seen someone so incredibly gifted and gifted feel so helpless.”
Gaga, who was previously in a traumatic relationship, marveled, “He wanted to cherish me, but I had never been loved like that. My life was serious to him. It wasn’t a party. He made me understand that my life was precious.”
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
