Deepika Padukone ongoing social with depression diagnosis, says ‘Initially I felt we were being hush-hush about it’.
Recently During a clubhouse session, Deepika Padukone opened up about keeping her mental illness confidential for the first few months of her diagnosis. Deepika Padukone spoke about the importance of self-care during a clubhouse session.
Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone mainstreamed the speech around mental illness by opening up about her battle with depression in 2015. It was unheard of for a successful movie star to admit that she wasn’t feeling well mentally. Six years later, Deepika shares that the decision to speak about her mental health in public wasn’t immediate.
During a Clubhouse session, Deepika Padukone said she and people around her were conscious of not letting her health issues become public and hence were “scared” about which therapist to trust.
At that point, when I went through the entire experience, I felt like we were being extremely hush-hush about everything. We didn’t want my name to go out. We were scared about which therapist to reach out to and who’s going to keep this information confidential. At that point, I went with the flow because I wanted help,” Deepika said.
She added that it was only months later that she felt her handling of the issue wasn’t convincing.
Actress Deepika Padukone said, “When I was reflecting on how this whole thing went by, I thought why did we handle it like this? And why were we trying to be quiet about it? Why can’t people know? Why shouldn’t people know that this is what I have been through? It also came from me wanting to try to be as honest and authentic as possible.”
What also motivated the Chhapaak star to start to open up about her struggle with depression was the shame attached to mental health, which makes people “suffer in silence”.
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“It was also about letting people know that mental illness exists and it’s okay to seek help because most of us suffer in silence because it’s not something you seek externally so there is a guilt attached to it because you feel you are the only one going through it. You also feel like you are inconveniencing your caregivers and the people around you. Me coming out was really just letting people know you are not alone and we are in it together,” she said.
Deepika Padukone was diagnosed with depression in 2014. The actor shared that while she found it difficult to articulate the feeling of “emptiness and directionlessness” that she had been experiencing for months, her mother understood that Deepika needed professional help.
She said, “It started in February 2014. I remember waking up one morning with this strange feeling in my stomach and it’s a feeling I don’t remember having ever felt before. For days after that, I felt empty, directionless and it just felt life had no meaning or purpose. I couldn’t feel anything physically or emotionally. I just felt this void and it’s difficult to articulate to someone who hasn’t experienced it.”
Brief of Deepika Padukone:
Deepika Padukone is an Indian actress and producer who works in Hindi films. One of the highest-paid actresses in India, her accolades include three Filmfare Awards.
She stars in listings of the nation’s most popular personalities, and Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2018.
Deepika Padukone has been the recipient of three Filmfare Awards: Best Female Debut for Om Shanti Om in 2007, and two Best Actress awards for Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela in 2013 and Piku in 2015.
