World Mental Health Day: Deepika Padukone to Anushka Sharma, Stars Who Spoke On Battling Depression, Anxiety

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Bollywood - the word itself is about glamour, status, success, red carpets, fan base and more. As many as lakhs of people dream about making it to the tinsel town, being a celeb is not a cakewalk. After all, it's not easy to be in the limelight all the time and being a celebrity does come with its share of consequences. Behind the glitzy life which exists on camera, comes a lot of struggle, hard work, battles which not many people speak about and much more which often take a toll on mental health. However, of late, celebs have taken it as a moral responsibility to raise awareness about mental health issues.

In fact, there are several celebs who have unabashedly opened up about their battles with depression, anxiety and other mental health issues despite the social stigma attached to it. So, as we celebrate World Mental Health Day today, we bring you a list of Bollywood celebs who have opened up about battling mental health issues.

Deepika Padukone

Deepika Padukone is one of the actresses who never shies away from talking about her battle with depression. She opened up about her battle with depression for the first time in 2015. The actress stated that she was diagnosed with clinical depression when she was having a great period in her life on both personal and professional fronts. "I thought it was stress, so I tried to distract myself by focusing on work, and surrounding myself with people, which helped for a while. But the nagging feeling didn't go away. My breath was shallow, I suffered from lack of concentration and I broke down often," she added.

Shaheen Bhatt

Alia Bhatt's sister Shaheen Bhatt spoke about her battle with depression in 2016 and has been quite vocal about mental health awareness. She has stated that mental illness has been a part of her life since she was 12. "I woke up one day and felt empty, hollow and just... confused. At first, I thought I was being a 'typical teenager' -- one who was irritable, slept too much and never left her room. At that point, everything in my life triggered my anxiety," Shaheen had told Humans Of Bombay. She also recalled how she avoided seeking help for years.

Shraddha Kapoor

Shraddha Kapoor, who made her debut with Aashiqui 2, revealed that she battled anxiety issues for around six years. "I didn't even know what was anxiety. We didn't know it for a very long time. It just after Aashiqui when I had these physical manifestations of anxiety. There's this pain happening where there was no physiological diagnosis. We got so many tests done but there was nothing wrong with me in the doctor's report," Shraddha was quoted saying.

Ileana D'Cruz

Ileana D'Cruz also opened up about her battle with anxiety and depression and also revealed that for the longest time she didn't know she had body image issues. The Rustom actress stated that acting in films made things worse for her. "There was a period; approximately 3 years ago, I had gone from happy to being completely depressed and not knowing what it was. The most comforting thought for me was what if I end things now! And I thankfully realised that this is not right. I never thought I'd be somebody dealing with anxiety or depression", she added.

Karan Johar

The ace filmmaker revealed that he battled anxiety issues for five years and was also on anti-anxiety medication for over a year. "There was a phase in my life when I was really depressed. When I went through that phase, I thought I am getting a cardiac arrest. I felt it in the middle of a meeting two and half years ago, after which I left the meeting in between saying I have something urgent to do and rushed to the doctor. He then said I am having an anxiety attack. I went to a psychologist post that. Then I realised that I had some internal issues to deal with, which got built up to such point that it resulted in anxiety," Karan had told NDTV.

Virat Kohli

Recently, ace cricketer Virat Kohli also opened up about battling depression. "You just don't understand how to get over it. That was a phase when I literally couldn't do anything to overturn things. I felt like I was the loneliest guy in the world," Virat was quoted saying.

Anushka Sharma

Anushka Sharma also opened up on her battle with anxiety and revealed that she got it treated. The Ae Dil Hai Mushkil actress stated, "I have anxiety. And I'm treating my anxiety. I'm on medication for my anxiety. Why am I saying this? Because it's a completely normal thing. It's a biological problem. In my family, there have been cases of depression. More and more people should talk openly about it. There is nothing shameful about it or something to hide. If you had constant stomach pain, wouldn't you go to the doctor? It's that simple. I want to make this my mission, to take any shame out of this, to educate people about this".