Actress Deepika Padukone may have achieved both national and international recognition with her work, but what is still shocking is that she is battling with her mental illness. At the India Economic Summit, Padukone said, “I don’t think I can say that I’m completely over it (depression). There is always a fear at the back of my mind that I might have a relapse because it has been such a bad experience for me.”
The successful actress suffered from depression in the past and in 2016, appeared on a news channel to talk about her struggle openly. She dared to discuss the issue to end the social stigma around it and subsequently started ‘The Live Love Laugh’ foundation.
“Maybe there are people who haven’t offered me films because they think I was depressed and I can’t act. Maybe, I don’t know. I’m in a good space because I can choose the movies that I want to act in, but I don’t think everyone has that luxury of where they want to work or when they want to work,” she said.
She also mentioned ways to do away with the stigma attached to depression and other mental illness. “A large part of the stigma comes from the fact that we (just) talk about physical education in schools. I had physical education in my school, but we didn’t have anything to talk about mental health. It’s not a part of the curriculum. If we included that in the curriculum and introduced the idea or the importance of mental health at the school level, there will be no stigma,” she added.
On a professional front, Deepika is currently gearing up for the release of Padmavati.
