Voices that matter help shed the stigma around mental health

The news of TV actors Kushal Punjabi and Sejal Sharma’s suicides have sent shock waves across the industry. One thing that is common in both the incidents is that their friends and wellwishers claim that they had made plans to meet just a few days before they committed suicide. It’s true — mental health illnesses do have a fa(r)ce, and it’s a beautiful, smiling one.

Celebrities including Deepika Padukone, Karan Johar and Alia Bhatt and her sister Shaheen Bhatt have publicly spoken about their battle with depression. In fact, Deepika recently took her fight to the global platform at World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, where she said that when she began her path of recovery, she “also understood the stigma attached with mental illnesses, and the need to go public with it”.

The semicolon has come to be known as a universal symbol of solidarity on mental health issues and designer Nikhil Thampi has named his collection after it in 2019. Designs from the collection have been worn by actors Bhumi Pednekar, Radhika Apte and Kubbra Sait. “It was a big gamble,” he says, “The topic is sensitive, but the tremendous support and the congratulatory messages that we have received have been overwhelming. Validation from celebrities is a big deal and would help others understand and support the cause.”

In the entertainment industry, where tensions run high and unpredictability is the name of the game, how do actors cope? Talking to family and friends has been the unanimous solution that mos actors had to give.

“I’ve always talked to friends and family. I’ve realised that when you open up, you get a better perspective and are able to think about it objectively. It’s always mind over matter, so when you learn to understand that, it helps you get over any problems,” shares actor Mohit Malhotra.

For actor Shashank Vyas of Balika Vadhu fame, it was all about keeping a positive frame of mind. “Initially, when I came to Mumbai, I struggled for many months and gave more than a hundred auditions. I was low, but I kept myself motivated. I had the clarity of thought and had a positive mental attitude,” he shares.

Actor Mrunal Jain feels that having the right people to look up to in the industry helps a lot. “I do have one friend who is like a mentor to me who I consult through my highs and lows. By sharing my issues, I get the right guidance and that has really helped me,” he says.

Actor Sharad Malhotra went through a rough patch between 2011-13 on both personal and professional fronts. “My health had deteriorated. Nothing was working o way I wanted it to. It’s always better to talk to people rather than keeping it to yourself as you might end up harming yourself,” advise Sharad.

We’ve seen how each time celebrities ra this issue, the discussion ove the topic gains momentum. Dr Manish Jain, a Delhi-based psychiatrist, feels it helps the common people shed stigmas. “There’s a large section of society that doesn’t believe in the existence of psychiatric illnesses and the concept of seeking help. People have been coming to me just after seeing these actors talk about it. The first step to recovery is to accept; and come out of the denial that we tend to live in.