Deepika Padukone recently recounted the skepticism she encountered when she disclosed her depression diagnosis to the world in 2015. The star disclosed while appearing on Meghan Markle’s podcast Archetypes to discuss mental health. Markle is a former actress and the Duchess of Sussex.
Meghan Markle lauded Deepika for the mental health foundation she established following her fight with depression, and also addressed the stigma surrounding the illness. Deepika revealed that while many individuals felt relieved after she discussed her mental health, others assumed she was doing it for film promotion or a partnership with a pharmaceutical company.
Deepika said, “For the majority of India, it was a relief. That last, someone accepted that yes, there is such a thing as mental illness, but there will always be a degree of suspicion regarding whatever positive you accomplish.”
“Many believed I was advertising a film or a pharmaceutical firm,” the actor added. And there were articles in which it was implied that I was being compensated by a pharmaceutical business, and you know that I’m about to begin promoting some form of medication.”
Deepika said in 2015 that her mother, Ujjwala Padukone, had advised her to seek professional therapy for depression a year earlier. Deepika later established Live Love Laugh, a foundation with the goals of promoting mental health awareness, reducing the stigma associated with mental illness, and providing authentic mental health services. As part of her foundation’s rural outreach initiative, she recently visited patients with mental illness and their caregivers in a village in Tamil Nadu.
Next, the actor will be seen alongside Shah Rukh Khan and John Abraham in Pathaan. Besides collaborating with Prabhas on Project K, she has other projects in the works.
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