Lady Gaga Recalls Crashing After 'Psychotic Break' And How Fiance Michael Polansky Saved Her Life

Lady Gaga has opened up like never before, getting raw and honest about what might have been the darkest chapter of her life. The pop icon, whose electrifying performance of ‘Shallow’ with A Star Is Born co-star Bradley Cooper at the 2019 Oscars remains unforgettable, was quietly struggling behind the scenes. 

In a stunning new Rolling Stone cover story, the 39-year-old superstar opened up about the time she suffered a “psychotic break” shortly after filming the 2018 musical, and had it not been for her now-fiancé, techpreneur Michael Polansky, she believes she might not have survived it.

Lady Gaga recalls filming A Star Is Born while on Lithium

In the Rolling Stone cover story published on Thursday, November 13, 2025, the Grammy winner was heartbreakingly honest in sharing her complicated past. Shortly after wrapping filming on the 2018 musical A Star Is Born, Gaga launched her Joanne World Tour, which ran from August 2017 to February 2018. After abruptly cancelling the tour towards the end, the singer-actress now reveals she suffered a terrible mental health episode. 

Image: Rolling Stone

The Bad Romance singer revealed that she was taking lithium, a mood-stabilising medication often prescribed for manic episodes, throughout filming the Oscar-winning blockbuster. Hardly anyone in the industry had any idea that, between filming the devastating scenes with Bradley Cooper, headlining the Super Bowl Halftime Show, and later juggling her Joanne-era commitments, she was spiralling out of control. Gaga shared:

“I did A Star Is Born on lithium… There was one day that my sister said to me, ‘I don’t see my sister anymore.’ And I cancelled the tour.”

Getting admitted into a psych ward

Things unravelled during Gaga’s Joanne world tour, and it was her sister who made her realise the reality, and everything froze. The Shallow singer recalls crashing down after her sister’s confrontation and immediately cancelling the remainder of her tour.

Fans might remember the time Gaga announced the cancellation of the Joanne tour due to “severe pain” from her long-known battle with fibromyalgia. But in reality, she was facing debilitating spirals that landed her in a psychiatric ward within 24 hours of her announcement. Gaga now reveals:

“There was one day, 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.”

Gaga has long been suffering from fibromyalgia, a chronic condition that’s characterised by cognitive disturbances, fatigue, and persistent pain throughout the body. While that condition alone is painful enough, the singer now reveals that her mental health collapse, including episodes of dissociation, panic attacks, and PTSD symptoms, was equally to blame for her mental breakdown. 

How Michael Polansky helped bring her back

After a series of famous breakups and broken engagements, Lady Gaga (real name Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta) has found the love of her life. When she met her now-fiancé, Michael Polansky, in December 2019, she was still healing from years of chronic pain, trauma, and overwhelming pressure. But as they say, sometimes you need that one person — and for her, that person was Polansky.

In Polansky, Gaga found the emotional anchor that helped her rebuild herself from the ground up. The entrepreneur saw the real Stefani behind that superstar mask; the broken person inside, deeply exhausted, frightened, and in desperate need of stability. He saw the woman who cried alone in hotel rooms, had conditioned herself to say ‘yes’ to everything, and was terrified of her own mind. 

Gaga shared how, unlike her ex-partners, who either minimised her struggles or romanticised her pain, Polansky made her face her reality, determined to bring the real Stefanie back. He did everything- from attending her medical appointments, helping her become sober, and protecting her from the pressure to perform when she desperately needed a break. While she previously dated from a place of trauma, this time, she knew how it felt to be loved without conditions. Gaga shared:

“He wanted to take care of me, and I’ve never been loved that way. My life was serious to him; it was not a party. He helped me see that my life was precious.”

Speaking to Rolling Stones, the 42-year-old entrepreneur and philanthropist recalled his shock at seeing the real woman behind that ‘Lady Gaga’ persona. He shared:

“The piece that I always noticed was how disempowered she felt — not in charge of her own life. I’d never met somebody so incredibly talented and gifted feel so disempowered.”

Gaga’s 2025 album Mayhem, which has now been nominated for seven Grammy Awards, was born directly from her recovery. The singer even channelled the brutal backlash from her 2024 film Joker: Folie à Deux into her electrifying music video for Disease. 

After years of struggle and now engaged to the man who saved her life, Stefani has once again shown why she is the iconic Lady Gaga. Healthier, stronger, and whole, she is taking back her story with confidence.

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