Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone, who has been an advocate for mental health, opened up about her battle with depression and even revealed that she was suicidal. The actress, who founded an NGO to raise awareness about mental health in India, gave due credit to her mother, who she says, recognised the signs and symptoms of her depression and advised her to get professional help.
Talking about her brave battle with depression, Deepika said, “I would break down for no apparent reason. There were days when I wouldn’t want to wake up, I would just sleep because sleep was an escape. I was suicidal at times.” She also revealed that she would often try to behave normally in front of her parents when they came to visit her. “My parents live in Bangalore so every time they visited me, even now when they visit me, I always put on a brave front that everything’s okay. You always want to show your parents that you are fine.”
In the past, Deepika admitted that there were times in her life when she ‘didn’t feel like living’. During an appearance on ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati 13’, the actress spilled her heart to Amitabh Bachchan saying, “I was diagnosed with depression in 2014. I used to feel weird that people don’t talk about it. It was a stigma and people don’t even know much about it. During that time, I realised that if I am experiencing this, then there would be many people out there facing depression as well. My ambition in life was that if I could save just one life, then my purpose was solved. We have come a long way now.”
When Big B asked her how she knew she was suffering from depression, Deepika said, “I used to get a very weird feeling, like there was an emptiness inside me. I didn’t feel like going to work or meeting anybody. I did not want to go out. I didn’t feel like doing anything. Many times, I don’t know if I should say this but I didn’t feel like living anymore. I felt like I had no purpose.”
Deepika is currently busy spending her time on the film sets. The actress is working on working on ‘Project K’ with Prabhas. She also has ‘Fighter’ with Htithik Roshan and ‘The Intern’ remake with Amitabh Bachchan. The actress is also awaiting the release of Siddharth Anand’s ‘Pathaan’ which will see her opposite Shah Rukh Khan and John Abraham.
Buzz is that the actress will also feature in a cameo in Ranbir Kapoor  and Alia Bhatt’s ‘Brahmastra’. Rumours are rife that the star has been tapped to play a leading role in the sequel of the upcoming film.
