Mental Health and Bollywood

Bollywood has always been considered a trendsetter in India and the word of Bollywood Actors and Actresses have been taken as gospel. Hence, Bollywood speaking up about mental health issues opened up the eyes of Indians to the taboo topic.

Mental Health is no longer an illness that isn’t recognised and brushed under the carpet, but rather have been openly spoken of by several leading members of the film fraternity.

Deepika Padukone: Spoke about her depression in 2015 and shared her experiences with the illness. The actress also founded Love, Live, Laugh Foundation- An organisation that spreads awareness and urges people to share their stories, fight depression and seek help.

Anushka Sharma: “I have anxiety. And I'm treating my anxiety. I'm on medication for my anxiety. Why am I saying this? Because it's a completely normal thing. It's a biological problem. More and more people, should talk openly about it. There is nothing shameful about it or something to hide. If you had a constant stomach pain, wouldn't you go to the doctor? It's that simple. I want to make this my mission, to take any shame out of this, to educate people about this."

Shah Rukh Khan: Post a shoulder surgery, Khan mentioned that he went into depression and found it difficult to recover.

Anurag Kashyap: Vocalized his state of depression post the release of Bombay Velvet. He was at a stage where he felt that that he was responsible for the failure of the film and the wrong happenings in the world. Accepting his mistakes and acknowledging the fact that he was depressed helped him take the first steps towards recovery.

Ranveer Singh: Singh's friend had put up a Facebook status, about committing suicide, before anyone could help, he shot himself. It left a deep impact on Ranveer, who has said to be suffering, ever since. Although Singh never spoke of the incident himself, his close family spoke about how he was traumatized and went to a psychiatrist for months post it.

Karan Johar: "There was a phase in my life when I was really depressed. When I went through it, I thought I was getting a cardiac arrest. Once, I felt it in the middle of a meeting. I left the meeting in between saying I have something urgent to do and rushed to the doctor. He then said I am having an anxiety attack. I went to a psychologist post that. I realised that I had some internal issues to deal with, which got built up to such point that it resulted in anxiety."

Kalki Koechlin: Survivor of a dark past, Koechlin has always been a strong supporter to overcome depression and mental health issues. She had been a victim of sexual assault as a child and counselling post her divorce. She says that one should never be apologetic when going through mental struggles and should find therapy before it gets too late.

Hritik Roshan: "I have been through my ups and downs. I have experienced depression and confusion. It's a normal thing and we should be very casual when we speak about it. I have experienced issues in my life. The ups and downs are important because we evolve through both of them. When you go through a down it is important to have a clarity of thought. Sometimes your brain takes over and it feeds you with unwanted thoughts which are not aligned with what you want to do in life and that is the time you need an objective point of view or a third person to look at you and tell you that this is what has happened because you lose awareness at that time."