Lady Gaga wants to channel her difficult past into a way to help others.
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The singer sat down with Oprah Winfrey in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, on Saturday, Jan. 4, to kick off Oprah's Life in Focus tour — her first arena tour in five years.
Their discussion was in part a follow-up to the interview Oprah conducted for Elle with Gaga last fall in which Gaga dismissed romance rumors about Bradley Cooper as having been the result of the pair's desire for viewers to believe the two were in love.
This time around, though, the conversation was more serious and more personal. Central to the discussion was Gaga's candid revelation that she sees a connection between her fibromyalgia and the fact that she was sexually assaulted at 19.
During their hour-long interview, Gaga said she was in "head-to-toe pain," according to Rolling Stone.
"What's interesting about it is that I've found through neuropsych research and my relationship with my doctors that fibromyalgia can be treated through mental health therapy. And mental health is a medical condition, it should be treated as a medical condition. It should not be ignored," Gaga said.
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The singer's need for therapy stems in part from having been raped, which she also talked about.
"I was raped repeatedly when I was 19 years old, and I also developed PTSD as a result of being raped and also not processing that trauma," she said.
"I all of a sudden became a star and was traveling the world going from hotel room to garage to limo to stage, and I never dealt with it, and then all of a sudden I started to experience this incredible intense pain throughout my entire body that mimicked the illness I felt after I was raped," she explained.
Later, she noted that she hoped the experience and her platform as a performer would allow her to shine a light on something so many people endure.
"I believe all things were supposed to happen. Because God was saying to me, 'I am going to show you pain and then you are going to help people in pain,'" she said, according to the Sun-Sentinel (via People).
As for those Bradley Cooper rumors?
"We did a really good job of fooling everyone. We created that," said Gaga, who split from her fiancé after "A Star Is Born" was released.
Speaking to the audience, Oprah pointed out, "It wouldn't have worked if you didn't believe they were in love."
Finally, Oprah asked if Gaga's fans could expect her to get back to music soon.
"We're having a self-care conversation but I'm still going to make music, don't worry," she joked in response.
Oprah's tour features talks in different cities with Tina Fey, Jennifer Lopez and Michelle Obama. A chat with Gayle King on March 7 in Denver, Colorado, is slated to be the final stop.