Indian actor Deepika Padukone`s journey while dealing with her mental health while suffering from anxiety and depression in the mid-2010s is known, but in a new video with PTI, her sister Anisha reveals how it changed the way she perceived mental health, and became personal for her.
Anisha, who is a professional golfer, said she was not aware enough about the signs and symptoms to be able to understand what her sister was really going through. It didn`t even help that they were both living in the same city. “I was really caught unaware and off guard. I felt like I knew enough about the topic but unfortunately, I didn`t. We were fortunate as a family to access mental healthcare and afford it but unfortunately, not everyone has that access and availability.”
Interestingly, the sister of one of Bollywood`s biggest actors, and both daughters of former Indian badminton player Prakash Padukone, is not only also a sportsperson but the CEO of The Live Love Laugh Foundation, a non-profit organisation, started by Deepika in 2015. It is also why she adds, “Her journey teaches me that I do not know enough about the subject and need to read up and understand more in order to support her in the way that is required. Secondly, that is also when my own mental health journey started.”
Anisha reveals that she also started taking better care of her mental health after that. “Being an athlete, I always taking care of my physical health to some extent, but not so much on mental health side of things, and so that`s where my journey with mental health began.”
It was during this time that the golfer said that the more she researched and understood the subject, realise that there are millions of people, not just in India but globally, and most of them have caregivers, who have similar experience to hers or don`t know enough, and that made her want to be able to help and support other caregivers and people with mental illness.