Deepika Padukone talks about depression, first time on TV

Deepika Padukone has been a crusader for mental health in India, something which is still considered a tabboo.

The lives of the popular filmstars might seem glittery and flowery, but underneath lie the fragilities of existence. Deepika Padukone is one such success story, whose zenith came pinned with a period of depression.

The ‘Dimpled’ beauty has been a crusader for mental health in India, something which is still considered a tabboo. A few months back, Deepika had revealed that at the start of year 2014, when she was establishing herself as the ‘Queen’ of Bollywood, she was suffering from depression and it “was a struggle to wake up”.

In an extensive interview to Hindustan Times, Deepika had told how she struggled with the grim realities and won over everything and everyone. She was quoted as saying, “I thought it was stress, so I tried to distract myself by focusing on work, and surrounding myself with people, which helped for a while. But the nagging feeling didn’t go away. My breath was shallow, I suffered from lack of concentration and I broke down often.”

But this was all in print and hearsay. Now, for the first time the pretty actress has come up on TV and spoken about the phase of depression in her life.

In an interview with NDTV, Deepika will appear with her mother Ujjwala Padukone and a counsellor doctor and will ‘break her silence’ on the ailment that she recovered from later last year.

“It all started on February 15 last year, when I had won all my awards and was being appreciated for my work in 2013 and obviously everyone is going to think like ‘why is she depressed?’ But I woke up one morning just feeling empty,” Deepika is seen saying in the teaser of the video, that’ll be telecast on Saturday (March 21).

Deepika Padukone adds, “I had this bouts of feeling so low that I would start crying at the drop of the hat. There were times I’d feel okay, and there were times I’d feel really low. Sometimes, being around people helped, sometimes it didn’t help.”

One can even hear Deepika’s voice breaking when she says, “There were times when I’d wake up and feel ‘it’s too exhausting’. And I didn’t want to wake up. There were days I just wanted to be in bed, just sleep; not wake up.”

As difficult as it is to talk about a phase in your life that you’d want to forget, Deepika is all strength and power when she brings forth this issue of mental health.

Reports also say that the actress is all set to start a foundation to promote mental health care on March 21. The foundation will be named as “The Live Love Laugh Foundation”. March 21 was finalised as this was the day that she decided to seek professional help last year.

Source:: Indian Express