'WILL NOT REST TILL I END ALL THE STIGMA’
Deepika Padukone says overcoming mental illness may seem tough, but with enough time and support, it’s possible
She’s single handedly responsible for bringing the topic of mental health to the forefront by sharing her battle with clinical depression back in 2015. And since then, Deepika Padukone has been passionately championing the need to disassociate stigmas and taboos around mental illness.
“And I won’t die until I accomplish that. It’s my mission in life. I’ll not be able to rest in peace unless we, as a country, stop attaching stigma around mental health,” she says.
Asked if it was difficult to share such a personal story with the world, Deepika says, “Not at all. I’m glad with the way I went about it. Acceptance is the key to recovery. That’s half the battle won.”
However, the 33-yearold reveals that the path to recovery was challenging as she had to be very patient with her mind and body. “It’s not like fever that you just recover from overnight. The recovery process was tough. I gave myself enough time to recover,” she says.
The actor also emphasises how family and friends play a crucial role during a person’s recovery process.
“People around you have to first learn to accept it and then be patient. I’ve known situations where the child was willing to accept that he/she had depression, but their parents were in denial. They were concerned about the stigma that might follow if they took their child to a counsellor,” she says.
Deepika shares how her path to recovery was easy all thanks to people dear to her — parents, then boyfriend-now-husband Ranveer Singh, friends and colleagues from the industry.
“There was not a single person who was not supportive. They accepted my issue and helped me recover,” she gushes.
So, are people in showbiz more prone to get into depression? “In my limited knowledge, it can happen to anybody. There are several reasons why anxiety and depression can happen to people irrespective of gender, profession and so on,” asserts Deepika.
And in another step towards the cause, the actor-philanthropist has launched The Deepika Padukone Closet initiative through which some of her favourite wardrobe pieces will be sold and the proceeds will go to support the cause of mental health.
“This will serve two purposes. Wherever I go, fans, friends including my mother and sister are like ‘give us na something from your closet’. I thought why not share my most loved pieces and at the same time giving to a cause that I am so passionate about,” concludes the actor.