Prince William and Lady Gaga have teamed up to encourage more people to have an open conversation about mental health and to end the stigma around the topic as part of the Heads Together #oktosay film series. In a video broadcast live on Facebook, the pair enjoyed a candid conversation over FaceTime from their respective homes in London and Los Angeles. They discussed the powerful films that have been released showing people from all walks of life discussing their mental health challenges under the #oktosay banner.
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Lady Gaga, 31, told William: "It made me very nervous at first, for me waking up every day and feeling sad and going on stage is very hard to describe. There is a lot of shame attached to mental illness, you feel like there is something wrong with you." Last year, the pop star released an open letter through her Born This Way Foundation revealing that she lives with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The Duke was hugely impressed with the openness displayed in the letter and asked Lady Gaga to get involved with the Heads Together campaign.
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The American singer added: "In my life I go 'oh my goodness, look at all these beautiful wonderful things that I have, I should be so happy', but you can't help it if you wake up in the morning and you are so tired and you are so sad and you are so full of anxiety that you can barely think. It's like saying, this is a part of me and that's okay." Prince William, who championed the Heads Together campaign with his brother Prince Harry and the Duchess of Cambridge, praised the singer for her honesty.
Prince William has teamed up with Lady Gaga to end the stigma surrounding mental health
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"It's time that everyone speaks up and really feels very normal about mental health, it's the same as physical health," he told her. "Everybody has mental health and we shouldn't be ashamed of it and just having a conversation with a friend or family member can really make such a difference. For me, the little bits that I've learnt so far is that it’s really important to have this conversation. You won't be judged." The Duke and Lady Gaga also made plans to meet in the UK in October to discuss how they can work together and do more to tackle stigma on mental health with Lady Gaga saying "we have to make the strongest, most relentless attempt we can to normalise mental health issues."