Can't say I am completely over my depression: Deepika Padukone

Mumbai: Deepika Padukone might be a successful star who has achieved both national and international recognition with her work. But hard as it is to accept, the successful actress suffered from depression in the past. In 2016, she had appeared on the news channel in order to openly address about her struggle with depression. The actress dared to talk about the issue to remove social stigma around it. She subsequently started  ‘The Live Love Laugh’ foundation to help others who are suffering from depression.

What’s shocking is that the actress recently admitted to still battling with her mental illness.

At the India Economic Summit, Deepika 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."

When asked whether opening up about depression had cost her movie roles, Deepika said she was unsure but there might have been some producers who did not approach her.

"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 mentioned that the best way to do away with the stigma attached with depression and other mental illness would be to include it as a part of the curriculum in schools.

“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 school level, there will be no stigma,” she added.

Recounting her decision of speaking about the illness in public, she said that she didn’t think about the repercussions at that time. “The idea really was to change the way people in India and the world see mental illness,” she emphasized.

On work front, Deepika is currently gearing up for the release of Padmavati, a period drama directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali.