Unless you haven’t noticed yet, it seems that Lady Gaga has been missing in action as of late. Just think about it, between the end of 2013 and the start of 2014, you haven’t seen the singer-songwriter on TV much or on awards shows.

Plus, she hasn’t been doing a whole bunch of radio interviews and she hasn’t graced the cover of too many magazines since the beginning of the year. And considering her latest album “Artpop” was just released this past November, one would think she would still be making several appearances to support it, but that doesn’t seem to be the case at all.

So why has Lady Gaga been so low-key lately? Is she tiring of the whole fame thing and does she need a break, or is it something else?

In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Gaga said she’s been having some emotional problems, which started right after “Artpop” was released, and she eluded to the fact that the music industry and her inner circle have been weighing her down.

“I became very depressed at the end of 2013,” she said. “I was exhausted fighting people off. I couldn’t even feel my own heartbeat. I was angry, cynical and had this deep sadness like an anchor dragging everywhere I go. I just didn’t feel like fighting anymore. I didn’t feel like standing up for myself one more time, to one more person who lied to me.”

And these feelings persisted until New Year’s Day 2014, when Gaga decided to battle her depression, because if she didn’t, she would have completely lost herself, she said.

“I really felt like I was dying, my light completely out,” she explained. “I said to myself, ‘Whatever is left in there, even just one light molecule, you will find it and make it multiply. You have to for you. You have to for your music. You have to for your fans and your family.'”

And now, Gaga says she’s lifting herself up and making wonderful strides to defeat her depression once and for all, but she had to find a small sliver of hope within herself to do that, she said. “I learned that my sadness never destroyed what was great about me,” she noted. “You just have to go back to that greatness, find that one little light that’s left. I’m lucky I found one little glimmer stored away.”

Image via Wikimedia Commons