Lady Gaga reveals she has post-traumatic stress disorder after being raped at 19

Singer Lady Gaga has revealed she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after she was raped at the age of 19.

"I suffer from a mental illness - I suffer from PTSD," she told the Today Show on a visit to a homeless shelter for young LGBT people in New York.

The 30-year-old pop star added: "I've never told anyone that before."

Lady Gaga revealed she was raped as a teenager in a radio interview two years ago.

The singer turned up unannounced at the shelter laden with gifts for the teenagers.

She said: "The kindness that's been shown to me, by doctors as well as my family and my friends, it's really saved my life."

She said she is still struggling with her mental illness "every day" and uses meditation to help her cope.

She said she wanted to remind the teenagers that "they aren't alone and that they are loved".

A young man from the centre she visited said: "Lady Gaga's act of kindness today was a reminder that love still exists - and that there's still some for me."

She later tweeted that she had shared one of her "deepest secrets" and her fans responded by sharing their experiences with mental illness and PTSD.

Post-traumatic stress disorder is an anxiety disorder which can develop after a distressing event, or a prolonged traumatic experience.

Someone with PTSD often relives the traumatic event through nightmares and flashbacks.