Deepika Padukone on depression: It's going to be next big epidemic to hit India

Deepika Padukone

Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone said she was not afraid to fail and not afraid to talk about the way she feels. She believes that success and failure are all part of life and everybody fails at one point in their life. "I am at a stage in my life where I have been through everything."

She was speaking on 'Making mental wellness a boardroom priority' at the World Congress on Information Technology and Nasscom India Leadership Forum here on Wednesday. In a packed hall at 'global influencer session' on the last day of the three-day event, Deepika Padukone, the founder of The Live Love Laugh Foundation, shared her experiences with depression and gave tips to technologists on how to overcome it.

In chat with Nasscom Vice-Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer Wipro Rishad Premji, she said that depression is going to be the next big epidemic. She said it was important that the persons suffering from depression speak about it with his or her near and dear ones and approach a counsellor and psychiatrist.

Deepika advised all IT companies to have counsellors and psychiatrists to help the employees who may be suffering from depression. She said the employers should also ensure that such employees are not treated differently, noting there is a lot of stigma attached to mental illness and such people don't speak due to fear of losing their job.

She believes technology can help create awareness on depression but personal touch and feel is important to help the person. "Personal feel and touch, physical proximity, one-on-one is important which technology in some way is taking away from us."

On whether social media is adding to the problem, Deepika said while it has been a boon in lot of ways, she believes that everything should be in moderation. She observed that people on social media sometimes present a glorified version of life.

Recalling her fight with depression, the actress said she was not afraid of being judged when she opened up about the problem. "It's okay to have moments of weakness, okay to break down and okay to cry. It's okay if you don't look great all the time," she said.

Replying to a query from the audience, Deepika said when she was suffering from depression, she used to feel like not getting up from bed and going for work. "There was no motivation and drive. I was not able to think straight. You feel a burden. You feel clouded and don't feel like yourself."

About the many episodes of breaking down, she said one day when her parents were returning to Bengaluru after visiting her, she broke down in front of her mother, who understood the problem and reached out to a counsellor. "If my mother had not understood the problem, I would not have got the intervention."

Deepika said while people suffering from depression were not expected to identify the symptoms and reach out to a psychiatrist, those around them have to understand it. The actress said frequent sessions with counsellors, medication, lifestyle changes, spacing the work, adequate sleep and the right kind of food helped her overcome the problem.

She stressed the need for people to come out and speak about mental illness. "You are not alone. One in three or five persons feels depression. It's going to be next big epidemic to hit our country," she said. On the activities of her Foundation, she said it was working to create awareness in Karnataka's Davangere district. "If I am able to save even one life, I will feel my job is done."

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