Outliers: Mental health joins set list at Lady Gaga's 2013 shows

As Lady Gaga brings her Born This Way Ball tour to North America this month, the pop phenom is adding a new twist: promoting mental health awareness to her “little monsters” at preconcert tailgating events.

Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation is partnering with the National Council for Behavioral Health in the effort, with the council mounting a 27-city Born Brave bus tour in conjunction with Gaga's concert schedule. The first show in her North American tour is Jan. 11 in Vancouver, and wraps up March 20 in Tulsa, Okla.

Gaga has been taking to Twitter to promote the effort. “I feel like most kids don't look for help because they feel embarrassed so mom + I wanted to break the stigmas around 'help' and make it fun,” she recently posted. “#BornBraveBus is a place where mental health + depression are taken seriously w/ no judgment, FREE real help available to all #BraverWorld.”

As part of the Born Brave effort, mental health professionals will teach that young people can play a role in caring for their own mental health and the mental health of their friends. Key messages of the tour include being brave and knowing your own strengths, acting brave and sharing those strengths and staying brave by building on those strengths and growing stronger.

The National Council has also partnered with the National Association of School Psychologists to offer interactive activities and resources to help these young people understand that mental health problems are common, treatable and that seeking help for themselves or their friends is an act of bravery.