On November 25, Lady Gaga made a powerful announcement at Harlem’s Ali Forney Center for homeless LGBT youth.

During a taped segment aired on NBC’s “Today” show on Friday, the superstar entertainer announced that she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. During her visit to the center she brought clothing and gifts, while sharing some of her deepest struggles, experiences, and how she is battling with PTSD.

Gaga told “Today” during an interview, “My own trauma in my life has helped me to understand the trauma of others,” and added “I told the kids today that I suffer from a mental illness. I suffer from PTSD. I’ve never told that to anyone before, so here we are.”

After she had announced this she later tweeted “Today I shared one of my deepest secrets w/ the world. Secrets keep you sick w/ shame.”

Gaga revealed in 2014 she had been raped as a teenager. She based one of her Oscar-nominated songs, “Till It Happens to You” about her traumatic experience and also included rape victims in the music video for that song.

According to a December 6^th CNN article, Gaga spent many hours at the center. She performed a song from her new album to the group and let everyone at the center take individual pictures.

The Ali Forney center in New York provides assistance to young people who have been “subjected to either physical or sexual abuse in their homes because their parents couldn’t accept them being LGBT,” the CNN article said.

After Gaga announced her mental illness to the world she published an emotional letter on her Born This Way foundation. Gaga explained how PTSD is affecting her daily.

“When this happens I can’t talk,” he said. “When this happens repeatedly, it makes me have a common PTSD reaction which is that I feel depressed and unable to function like I used to. It’s harder to do my job. It’s harder to do simple things like take a shower. Everything has become harder.”