A video of Prince William, 34, and Lady Gaga, 31, discussing mental health issues over FaceTime was released on Tuesday, April 18. Although their conversation was more serious than expected, they shared personal stories and passions surrounding this issue.
The video opened up with Lady Gaga expressing her gratitude to the efforts Prince William made toward Heads Together. According to their mission statement, they are a charity that works with young people, emergency response, homeless charities and with veterans to positively influence mental health problems.
So to get the conversation ball rolling, marathon runners led the way to talk about their personal experiences with their mental health. In fact, Gaga said how these beautiful films that he made through this campaign made her reflect on the recent changes to her mental health.
"It reminded me how much my mental health changing changed my life," the singer said eyes wide, as she nodded her head.
Prince William responded and said that out of all the charitable work he, his brother Harry, and his wife Kate do stemmed back to mental health. And because of his experience with mental illness through charities, Prince William admired Lady Gaga's courage to openly speak about her own health.
"I thought it was incredibly moving for you to write down such personal feelings," he told her. Then he inquired what it felt like for her to come to terms with.
It was nerve-wracking for the pop sensation.
"It made me very nervous at first," she shared with Prince William. "For me, waking up everyday and feeling sad and going on stage is something that is very hard to describe."
Considering the negative stigma associated with mental illness, it was inspiring to watch the British duo openly discuss their views.
"There's a lot of shame attached to mental illness," Gaga admitted. "You feel like something's wrong with you."
The singer explained how she had so much to be grateful for but still felt strong emotions of sadness swell within her each day.
Prince William admitted that he was still learning about mental illness. But from what he has learned, he realized these conversations need to happen as well. In fact, it is extremely important to have them.
Gaga responded by saying, "I feel like we're not hiding anymore."
Prince William even compared mental health to physical health in the sense that everyone is affected. And because of this, the two agreed that these discussions need to occur. People need to open up.
They predicted that if people spoke up, good things would happen.
"Having a conversation with a friend or family member can really make such a difference," Prince William stated.
And it was true for Gaga. Although it was extremely difficult, she said the best thing was for her to share her mental health with others.
Because ultimately, "You are not alone."
They plan to continue their discussion to normalize the topic of mental health in October when Gaga visits the U.K.