Deepika had said that in 2015 she will help create awareness about mental health.

[P.J.]

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Deepika had said that in 2015 she will help create awareness about mental health.

You'd be excused for thinking actress Deepika Padukone has it all. Indeed, as far as anyone can see she does - blockbuster hits, awards and a romance with co-star Ranveer Singh that she won't talk about. However, in a poignant first person interview to Hindustan Times, the Happy New Year star has revealed that she battled 'anxiety and depression' last year.

In the interview, Deepika says that she woke up one day in 2014, "feeling different." At the time, Deepika had already delivered her hat-trick of hits with Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani, Chennai Express and Ram-Leela. She had two high profile films coming up - Kochadaiiyaan and Finding Fanny - and was filming Happy New Year.

Deepika says, "Every morning, it was a struggle to wake up, and shoot for Happy New Year's climax... Most of HNY was shot through this phase. But before starting my next with Shoojit Sircar, I took a two-month break to recover mentally and physically. I spent time with my family in Bengaluru and was soon better. But, when I returned to Mumbai, I heard about a friend committing suicide due to anxiety and depression. It was a huge blow"

For a while, Deepika blamed the 'strange emptiness' in her stomach on stress and exhaustion. She speaks about having to put up a brave front for her parents because she didn't want them to worry about her living alone.

Finally, it was her friend's death that prompted Deepika to get help from a psychiatrist friend. It wasn't easy, though. She was 'resistant' to taking medication, thinking 'talking was enough.'

She also says, "Being sad and being depressed are two different things. Also, people going through depression don't look so, while someone sad will look sad. The most common reaction is, 'How can you be depressed? You have everything going for you. You are the supposed number one heroine and have a plush home, car, movies... What else do you want?' It's not about what you have or don't have. People talk about physical fitness, but mental health is equally important. I see people suffering, and their families feel a sense of shame about it, which doesn't help. One needs support and understanding."

Today, she is 'much better.'

She has also announced on Twitter that this year she will focus on creating awareness about mental illness:




Hats Off to Deepika Padukone! We are all so proud of you!


Deepika Padukone Speaks About Personal Battle With Depression - NDTV Movies

 

[JR]

I battled major depression 15 yrs ago.. for a month I did not know what caused the gloomy feeling I was going through... the pain and the gloom was unbearable... it felt like I had a heavy Iron helmet tightly covering my brain all over. Then I consulted a Psychiatrist and he gave me SSRI's and after taking them for a little more than a month, I had partial success... then the psychiatrist augmented my medicines with a Tricyclic antidepressant and then bingo! my symptoms vanished away very fast and I became completely depression free at the end of 2 mo from the start of treatment. Depression is nothing major at all.. only a very tiny, tiny percentage might have to wander from med after med for cure, but even then they will surely find one that works for them for there are so many sophisticated alternatives in the market these days! When all else fails, some people even go for ECT (Electro Convulsive Therapy) although this treatment seems to be banned in USA. It is available in India.

 

[renuka]

Depression can be handled if the underlying cause is addressed.

Not many can handle stress very well but that does not mean a person is weak..its fine to feel down from time to time but we should know when to seek help.

For every case of depression there is any underlying cause and I have noted that some traits runs in families.

Women nearing menopause can also display symptoms of depression which dramatically disappears when they attain menopause.

But I feel somehow we woman do have some amount of mood variations when compared to males.

There are some days I can feel totally out of this world and feel very energetic and creative and there are some days I can feel just normal.

One more thing is we humans tend to want to fit into the "normal" crowd and at times be too harsh to ourselves and try to conform to the standards of others and end up getting depressed.

I do not do that..I do embrace my crazy side and all the crazy thoughts that race thru my mind.

Everyone of us has a crazy streak and at times we should just not worry too much.

Coming to depression..I always recommend Yoga!

It really helps stabilize elevated Cortisol levels that cause increased feeling of stress and stress itself releases excess Cortisol and it becomes a vicious cycle of the never ending story kind.

Yoga is not only a physical exercise but it helps to balance the endocrine system in its various poses and a good stress buster..that is a major help for depression.

So with Yoga therapy one need not be too dependent on medication unless its is caused by an underlying organic irreversible cause of depression.

 

[renuka]

The quest for perfection can wreck a person's mental health.

As a GP once I saw a case of a very depressed female whose problem was motherhood.

She wanted to be the perfect mother to her children and felt she was not perfect enough and fell into a severe depression till she was neglecting them.

She was treated by some other doctors for depression too.

Then one day when she came to see me for another ailment..she mentioned her depression and I asked her "Why do you want to be a perfect mother? what is wrong being an imperfect one? Is there a perfect mother?"

That question sort of opened her eyes..she said women always talked about being a perfect mother and she felt inadequate and tried too hard to be perfect.

I told her to embrace her imperfection and work at her own pace and need not compare with other females.

I told her females have a tendency to brag about maternal instincts..so dont take what others say too seriously.

She listened to my advice and now her psychiatrist stopped her medication cos she has improved.

 

[JR]

Once you get major depression, you are supposed to take psychiatric meds lifelong. When I was pregnant with my daugther, I was told some of the meds I was taking weren't allowed to be taken during pregnancy and had to stop it. Towards the end of the pregnancy, that landed me in a severe panic attack. My heart raced as in a heartattack and I felt extremely afraid of everything - it was a nightmarish experience. Since that was the tail-end of my pregnancy, I did not have to hang on much longer, and after delivering the baby I was put back in the meds and I felt better. This is one caveat of the medicines - one should take them lifelong.

 

[renuka]

Dear JR,

On a personal basis I have noted that some psychiatrists especially the old school ones tend to be too fond of treating a patient with medication that can almost last a life long.

If major depression is NOT caused by some underlying disorder like Schizophrenia its can be treated by many other ways so that a person need not be too dependent on medication.

Sometimes people face personal problems like divorce,financial loss,job related stress,death of a loved one..spouses having affairs etc and they land with major depression and even feel suicidal.

Ok..initially they need to be put on medication and later they should undergo counselling sessions to address the underlying causative factors and also make life style changes.

This is where exercise and Yoga plays an important role..its helps us deal with stress and clear our mind so that we can now think clearly to face our problems.

One more thing I have noted that people seldom want to do introspection..they always think someone else caused their problem but this is where we should be honest to ourselves and face our flaws and try to handle our life better.

Then we need to reconsider our goals in life..do not compare and contrast.
We all have our own pace in life that differs..and our rate of growth in finance or personal life might differ from another person.

Sometimes we would have been tops in college but in real life have just an average career..this at times upsets many people cos they expect top student should be top in career too.

Its not always cos we have to take into consideration our stress handling methods.

For me on a personal basis I never used to be that great a stress handler when it came to working in the hospitals cos I realized that I was not very great with human contact even though I would not show my true feelings. Being on call and being without sleep for 24 hour would really make me feel moody but again..I cant show it to others cos of my job.

So instead of trying to get over this lack of handling stress ability....I chose to work in a way that I minimize interaction that is not warranted and chose to be a GP so that I do not have to work on call and I be my own boss and work at my own pace.

I do not believe in trying to fight a flaw..I accept the flaw and work ways that it does not come into action.

For example I found motherhood stressful...lack of sleep and have to go to work..so I decided Ok..only 1 kid and no more kids cos I know I wont be able to handle motherhood more than once.

Many people thought that I am selfish and lack motherly instincts etc but I know my weaknesses and strength...so I do not let others opinion affect me.

I have seen women who find it hard to cope with motherhood but still have many kids cos they fear being labelled as not being a good mother.

So you see its all these small things do add up in life and we have to work out a way for ourselves.

Never fight your flaws..just use your mind to work out a way of living with the flaws and after a while you will start even appreciating your flaws cos that makes you unique.

All these small steps do aid to get over depression.

 

[JR]

Dear Renuka,

Those are wonderful tips! Thanks.