Vivek gets slammed
Agnihotri’s recent tweet where he said bipolar disorder, depression etc. are ‘fancy’ words has irked netizens
The tragic demise of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput sparked a conversation about mental health issues as several reports suggested that he had been dealing with depression. While several netizens have been urging people to speak up and about their depressed and get help, filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri has said, ‘bipolar disorder, multiple personality disorder, depression etc are all fancy words.’
The filmmaker took to Twitter to share his bizarre logic about serious mental illnesses and tweeted, “Bipolar disorder, multiple personality disorder, depression etc are all fancy words given by psychiatrists who don’t wish to work on emotional health of the patient and earn money only through drug prescription! Simple! We all have all of the above on a normal basis.”
“Families are the best psychiatrists. They take away most of our psychological pressures. They are like shock absorbers. A loving family that communicates a lot, laughs a lot and eats together can keep many psychological problems away,” he added.
Agnihotri’s tweet didn’t go down well with Tweeple for obvious reasons and several netizens slammed him for the ‘blatant ignorance’. Taking a sly dig at the filmmaker, a user commented, “Agree! Asthma, Lung cancer, tuberculosis, Covid19 are all fancy words given by doctors who don’t wish to work on pranayam techniques of the patient and earn money only through drug prescription! Simple! We all have a little cold and cough on a normal basis.”
“Sorry I don’t agree & think this is an ignorant take. Bipolar disorder & depression are very real things that can be helped with medication as well as psychological interventions. The irony is that India has a ton of depressed, anxious people who aren’t getting the help they need,” wrote another user.
A Twitter user, who’s a psychiatrist by profession (according to his bio on the micro-blogging site) commented, “am sure u haven’t seen a single patient suffering from serious psychiatric illness. U are most welcome in our psychiatric wards if u really want to understand psych illness & help these patients. Make conclusions after seeing them & not by listening to dimwit celebrities.”