It’s Great That Celebrities Are Speaking Up About Depression, But We Need To Go One Step More

After Deepika Padukone, Shaheen Bhatt also spoke about her battle with depression. Is only speaking about it enough or is it high time we took some action?

I recently read an article in the newspaper about Shaheen Bhatt and her book, I’ve Never been (un) Happier. The book she wrote about her depression.

There are several other celebrities who spoke of depression- Deepika Padukone and Anushka to name a few. Depression, is no longer a taboo- thanks to all these celebrities who came forward and spoke about it.

I remember when we were younger, and didn’t know the ‘F’ word and the likes, the most common abuse was, ‘paagal‘ and ”mental hai kya?’ We dare not say these anymore. Now they are more likely to hurt people than any cuss words that almost everyone uses, every where, all the time.

Depression and celebs

However, on a serious note, I hope people take a cue from celebrities to come out and seek help. Especially if they feel that they face any of the symptoms that they (the celebrities) have mentioned.

Twenty years ago, we knew of actors who lost their lives when they had everything going for them. We also knew actors who lost all the fame because they turned to alcoholism. And we also knew of actors who killed themselves due to unrequited love.

We knew they had problems but never attributed it to depression. What we did think was that fame came with a lot of issues, especially in the film industry.

But as years passed we thought things changed. When Deepika (the most successful actor of her times) said that there were days when she found it difficult to even get up, that she didn’t understand why she felt low despite the awards she got, she knew something was wrong. She addressed the issue.

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At the same time, it took a little longer for Shaheen to understand that she was suffering from depression.

Will we do the same for ourselves?

We applaud these celebrities when they seek help as they realise what they were feeling was not physical. And we also applaud them for understanding that it has nothing to do with not doing well in life and speaking about it. We are grateful to them for speaking about it.

But in reality, how many of us will actually attribute our illness to depression. We will try to find reasons for their illness, take them to all kinds of specialists but we will never take them to a therapist. Even if by a remote chance, we know that it is depression, we’ll convince ourselves and every one around us that time only will heal it.

Most times, we also would not want to spend money and time on something which we feel has no cure. Yes, a very high percentage of people in our country can’t afford doctors for physical ailments so they will never even think of treatment for depression.

What they can also do

All these celebrities who come out and tell us about their cancer and their healing process, got themselves treated outside India. I feel it is depressing for the patient and the family to know that they could have got a better treatment if they had money.

It would be helpful if these celebrities do something to help people. Maybe, set up free consultation for depression or provide affordable treatment for cancer instead of just talking about it.

Yes, depression is no longer a taboo because Deepika spoke about it. But I also worry that the fanatics, and the crazy movie buffs, who won’t just call themselves depressed because their favourite actor spoke about it.

It is really brave on their part to share their stories but we should really think of how much this will help us.

Please do let me know about your thought in the comments section.

Picture credits: YouTube

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