Lady Gaga Reveals She Was Taking Lithium While Filming A Star Is Born

Lady Gaga may have appeared to be in top form in her A Star Is Born era, but behind the scenes, she was having her most difficult mental health battle ever. Now seven years removed from that time, Gaga is opening up about the breakdown and psychiatric help she was privately dealing with during her biggest movie role.

“I did A Star Is Born on lithium,” Gaga revealed in a Nov. 13 Rolling Stone profile. Lithium is primarily used in the treatment of bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder, though Gaga did not disclose what the psychiatric medication was treating for her. The singer has been open about her struggles with depression and anxiety in the past.

After filming wrapped in 2017, Gaga went right into her Joanne World Tour. In February 2018, she abruptly canceled the final 10 shows of the tour. She now reveals this was because she experienced a “psychotic break.” “There was one day that my sister said to me, ‘I don’t see my sister anymore,’ and I canceled the tour,” Gaga said. “I went to the hospital for psychiatric care. I needed to take a break. I couldn’t do anything … I completely crashed. It was really scary. There was a time where I didn’t think I could get better.…  I feel really lucky to be alive. I know that might sound dramatic, but we know how this can go.”

At this time, Gaga was about to set out on what would become an incredibly high-profile press tour to promote A Star Is Born. She confessed in her Rolling Stone interview that it wasn’t really until she started dating her now-fiancé Michael Polansky in early 2020 that she found stable ground once more.

“Being in love with someone that cares about the real me made a very big difference,” Gaga said. “How do you learn how to be yourself with someone when you don’t know how to be yourself with anyone?”

Currently, she describes herself as “a healthy, whole person.”