Deepika Padukone was diagnosed with depression and she talks bravely of her journey to fight the disease.
She talks about how it was difficult for her to shoot for the climax scene of Happy New Year. She didn’t feel like getting up , there was a feeling of unexplained emptiness in her stomach.
For sometime she did try to surround herself with more work and positive people , but after a point nothing helped and she had to take the help of medical professionals. She was diagnosed suffering from depression and anxiety disorder and was put on medication. She is off from medication now and wants to help people overcome this disease.
Over a period of time, it got worse. When my parents visited, I would put up a brave front because they were worried about me living alone and working long hours.
Then, once, while talking to my mother (Ujjala Padukone), I broke down. She realised the problem, and got in touch with a psychologist friend, Anna Chandy, to get to the root of the cause.
Every morning, it was a struggle to wake up, and shoot for Happy New Year’s (HNY; 2014) climax. Finally, I had a word with Anna aunty. She flew to Mumbai from Bengaluru, and I talked my heart out to her. She concluded that I was suffering from anxiety and depression.
When she suggested I take medication, I was resistant. I thought talking was enough. Later, I met another psychologist, Dr Shyam Bhatt, in Bengaluru for a second opinion.
There were days when I would feel okay, but at times, within a day, there was a roller-coaster of feelings. Finally, I accepted my condition. The counselling helped, but only to an extent. Then, I took medication, and today I am much better
Depression is a disease most people do not recognize or acknowledge, mostly because of the social stigma attached to it. Like any other ailment , this needs medical attention. A medically depressed person has no control over his feelings, he may not look sad or deterred, but his brain might be playing havoc with his emotions.
80% of people suffering from depression live their life without getting any medical treatment. 1 in every 10 people suffer from some kind of depression , making this a very common disease. Depression could happen to anyone even those people who seem to have it all –because, again it’s a disease and person suffering from it has no control over it.
So when famous people come out in the open and address about their struggle , it’s a thumbs up. Deepika Padukone is working on a plan to create awareness about anxiety and depression, to help people accept and fight the disease.