Recently Deepika Padukone, one of Bollywood’s top leading ladies opened up about her battle with mental health issues. In a talk with Hindustani Times, she revealed how she does suffer from anxiety and depression just last year. While she has sought out help to improve her health she also wants to spread awareness on the issue.

 

 Deepika Padukone saw a lot of praise for her work last year, and not just because she’s a pretty face, she has really improved her skills as an actress. Padukone dropped hit after hit, but who knew that behind those long schedules and hours of rehearsals she was mentally suffering trying to wake up and go to work every day. She told Hindustani Times how she had fainted one day from exhaustion and it started to roll downhill from there.

“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. 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 realized the problem, and got in touch with a psychologist friend, Anna Chandy, to get to the root of the cause.”

Deepika Padukone continued to meet with Dr. Chandy and even sought out a second opinion from when Dr. Chandy suggested taking medication. We are glad to know however that the lovely actress is doing much better today. After shooting for Happy New Year she took a break in Bengaluru before starting her next project, Shoojit Sircar. Upon returning to Mumbai Deepika once again was faced with hardships when she heard of a friend who committed suicide due to depression and anxiety. Deepika Padukone is not letting her hardships bring her down, instead she is using her star power to bring more awareness to the disorder.  Speaking about her recovery Padukone said,

“We talk about all kinds of aliments, but this is probably one of the deadliest mental disorders. Nothing, including life, makes sense to people suffering from it. Overcoming it has made me a stronger person and I now value my life much more. Accepting it and speaking about it has liberated me. I have stopped taking medication, and I hope my example will help people reach out for help.”

Deepika goes to to explain more about depression and it’s symptoms, including things she’s faced. The media has gone wild with the news and fans worldwide have shown support for the actress. Deepika’s confession has prompted many people to reveal the issues they’ve faced and hopefully millions more will take a step towards help after hearing the lovely actress’ story.